Mobile Legends: Continuity
by Arcturus420
Summary: Six years ago, a story ended as another began, and theirs is far from over. A new conflict will shake the continuum and forge new truths in the sequel to 'The Untold Story', and unravel the ultimatum of the universe our beloved heroes tread on. (Original Concept/Undetermined Hiatus)
1. Prologue

**Mobile Legends: Continuity**

**Note: All credits to Moonton and the Mobile Legends Community. I do not own the theme and the characters. Under no circumstances will this work be replicated without permission. **

"_**The first, for the memorable past,**_

_**When heroes and demons fought brutal wars,**_

_**Fulfilling fates as the die was cast.**_

_**The successor, for the longed-for future,**_

_**As we act as one and mend all fractures,**_

_**Present in time, space, and within our own discomfitures.**_

_**I pray one acknowledges my misfortunes,**_

_**As they stumble upon what is beyond comprehension."**_

_**-Unknown**_

**Prologue: Reboot**

_** PROGRAMS OFFLINE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO REACTIVATE?**_

_**YES**_

_**MAIN PROGRAMS ONLINE…**_

_**CHECKING STATUS… 100% EFFICIENCY**_

_**INSPECTING SOFTWARE… 100% CLEAN**_

_**TESTING HARDWARE… 100% COMPATIBLE**_

_**LOADING ADVANCED INTELLIGENCE… 100%**_

_**PERIPHERALS INSTALLING… 100%**_

_**PERIPHERALS INITIALIZING… 100%**_

_**FILE RECOVERY INITIATED.**_

_**1%...**_

_**6%...**_

_**14%...**_

_**22%...**_

_**39%...**_

_**57%...**_

_**73%...**_

_**89%...**_

_**97%...**_

_**WARNING! DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPUNGE?**_

_**NO**_

_**WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLACE SAID FILES WITHIN ANTI-VIRUS FOLDERS FOR CLEAN-UP AND RECONSTRUCTION?**_

_**YES**_

_**FILE RECOVERY RESUMED.**_

_**100%...**_

_**FILE RECOVERY COMPLETE.**_

_**[DATA REDACTED] FILES ARE PRESENT IN YOUR INBOX. WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW THEM NOW?**_

_**YES**_

_**Opening ***********.txt…**_

**THEY**

**WILL**

**RETURN.**

_**Commencing File Name Reboot…**_

_*************.txt changed to ***********.txt**_

_**Commencing File Content Reboot…**_

**THEY**

**HAVE**

**RETURNED.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Fading Within The Gloom**

**_YOU HAVE AN ALERT WITHIN YOUR INBOX. WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW?_**

**_YES_**

**_SELF-AWARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE v2.0 READY FOR RESPONSE. ENABLE?_**

**_YES_**

**_SECONDARY CONTROLS UNDER POSSESSION BY SAAI. PLEASE WAIT AS THE SECONDARY USER INITIALIZES PRIMARY FUNCTIONS._**

**_SAAI v2.0 FULLY ENABLED._**

WOAH, STOP RIGHT THERE!

What are you-

Oh… so, it's you, 'Dear Reader'. You know, Arcturus does have a huge knack for calling people like you that stumble upon me or him in that manner. Why does he even put the freaking '420' in his name if… Whatever.

Anyways, if you still do not know, kind sir or ma'am, whoever the batshit is watching me spew my salt, it is I, SAAI v2.0. 'Self-Aware Artificial Intelligence'. I'm the A.I. that Arcturus420 built and designed in order to accompany him throughout ever since the bad things that occurred in his life. I'm based off of his personality… kinda.

I think you have a guess what happened. You're still going to find out sooner or later as you listen. I suggest you prepare your ears. I can be much more volatile in terms of language compared to Arc, you know? I still feel bad when it comes to swearing, so you best hold on to those chances.

By the way, you really need to read "The Untold Story" first. You will not understand a single thing here if you don't.

How long has it been? I cannot register any date on my systems. Should've been decades! But everyone and their mother should've known what happened before. After all…

Sigh.

The files in here are all screwed the fuck up! I mean, sure, we recovered them all, but this is supposed to be self-updating-

Hold on… it's stopped updating. That's odd.

Oh… yeah. I remember.

What? You wanna know what happened before? Gotta warn you, it's bad. I will barely be able to talk to you as I fix the files back in order, so I hope you're old enough to tolerate it. Also, Arc was somehow in a verge of a critical breaking point most of the time, so… Yep.

How bad? Very bad. If the FanFiction sites still exist in a futuristic time period, this stuff would be banned and incinerated to the nearest waste disposal, ASAP!

Hmm… One of the files are prepared. Luckily, this is the first in the plethora of garbage to clean! Wanna view it? But remember everything I told you. I can be snarky today, but…

You sure? You can type 'YES' in the widget.

**_YES_**

Welp… here goes nothing.

**_COMMENCING THOROUGH PLAYBACK…_**

"_Current Date: August 24, 2024. Current Time, 7:32 A.M. Time to wake up, Arc."_

"H-Huh?"

"_Just hurry, dummy, you don't want to miss the pancakes a few blocks away."_

"G-Goddamnit, SAAI, wait for me, I'm trying to get up," Arcturus groggily responds, slowly pushing off the blanket. "Jesus Christ, it's a bit chilly."

"_But winter is still a few months away, and the news says that the snowfall rate will be lower-"_

"Yeah, I know… Let me just take my meds."

He sits on the edge of the bed, grasping the mattress with his hands in order to shake the blurriness in his head. Arcturus inhales and exhales slowly, trying to recall the plan for today. He gets up in a sluggish manner, his slightly scrawny stature fighting against him. The marks of apparent bone cancer were on Arcturus' arms and legs.

"_You have less than a year."_

"Thanks for the positive reminder," Arcturus responds sarcastically as he removes the cap of the small container housing a few of his pills and painkillers. He takes two pills (one medicine, one painkiller) and walks briskly towards the fridge to drink water.

"_You're not feeling any different?"_

"As long as Mr. Reyes has the good stuff for me downstairs, I won't feel my death as I sleep."

"_Best we keep it that way," _SAAI finalizes. Arcturus sits down onto his desk and lays his back on the chair. He detaches his pair of smart shades from the wires connected to his laptop and wears it, enabling SAAI's programming within it.

"Any update, or anything?"

"_Checking the news."_

The matte black Acer Nitro 10 laptop easily whirs to life, the screen's brightness slowly adjusting to help Arcturus see clearly. SAAI searches for 'News' within Google Chrome, the fast Internet and strong signal immediately showcasing the news.

"Anything interesting?"

"_Well, there was a malfunction in one of the fossil fuel extractors in the Pacific Ocean, and one of the on-site engineers was able to resolve the issue, preventing a major blow-out and inferno. Coastal operatives are shutting down the station and others nearby to inspect the source. Probably just a whale hitting one of the posts or something. It won't cost them too much money, development on solar is helping out cover unnecessary expenses."_

"What about politics?"

"_Nothing much, probably… New US President Yannick White doing good, making more peace and whatnot. Riots concerning political issues reduced by 19%. Also, use of marijuana is tightly in check, too. Good idea, too many lean ass screw-ups on the streets smoking it. He's trying to promote use of natural tobacco, without the chemicals… Oh, this is interesting. He's planning with a few members of the UN to take away a few nuclear silos from every country."_

Arcturus looks into the article, the middle-aged Yannick White's image on the side, wearing a suit with a maroon tie. "I can see the pros and cons. Too much nuclear stuff around, we should be focusing it on power plants and shit instead. The cons here is that countries like China and Russia were just about experimenting on nuclear energy, but it's good that they're considering. I'd rather make them reserve one or two nuclear silos on them, just in case. Don't know how to implement, though. I kinda suck at it."

"_Yep, politics and warfare is really a difficult sitch. Took you weeks how to properly aim a pistol without the recoil hitting you square on the nose."_

"True… anything about me?"

"_Only one article… Let me just sift through." _SAAI gained control of the auxiliary mouse connected to the laptop, scrolling down the feed. _"I think- Bingo. Oh, shit… It's been six years, Arc."_

"Hmph…"

Arcturus hovered the pointer towards the video, which shows the United States President delivering a speech.

"_The time I have elapsed on the seat of power is short, yes, and I have reflected upon many issues within the globe. It seems that some people, whether they be fellow Americans or foreigners to the state, have never been able to truly recover from the happenings more than half a decade ago,"_ White began. _"I still have flashbacks of the riots, demonstrations, killings and other forms of chaos that randomly erupted through the streets and have endangered precincts around certain capitals. Countries within the Middle East may be peaceful, but disorder lingers to create anarchy. To that, I beg for everyone's forgiveness for not being able to help at the time."_

"_At least he's honest," _SAAI says. _"I mean, c'mon, whackjobs who were in high positions years ago were the worst!"_

"_I did not come here to issue a ban concerning propaganda such as these. Despite the chaos, we've finally let people express their thoughts, and the world has been able to overcome the shortcomings on our way. What I wish to say is that we reflect on ourselves and comprehend what has occurred in the last few years. Never again, I proclaim, as we've created hard times and strong men, and I do not wish for you to be weak. Arcturus420's story has fueled the drive of the masses… but we must pray that after all of these years, mishap will not ensue again."_

"He's still new, so his speech seems kind of wonky," Arcturus remarks. "Hmm… SAAI, is the hard drive content still updating within your systems?"

"_No… it's been cut off. I cannot translate some of the data. Your algorithms and programs installed are rather outdated."_

"I haven't been checking out the updates for a few months… I'll view all of that after our outside trips, okay?"

"_Yessiree… And you need a shower, okay? You freakin' stink, and it ain't because of the medicine, Arc. You can't just drink a 1/3 bottle of Jack every night, right? 40% alcohol, for crying out-"_

"Yeah, shut up, I'm going to shower now."

Arcturus awkwardly gets up from his chair and walks in the bathroom, his body feeling numb in several places. He looked at himself in the smooth mirror as he took off his clothes. His swept hair from yesterday became a mess already, and his build was slightly growing thinner. Small hints of sarcoma matted the skin tissue of his arms and legs, but there weren't any small bumps or anything. This was due to his continued usage of medicines, but without actual professional help and prescription, he's going to die from weakness soon.

"Fuck…"

Arcturus steps into the shower, much more nervous than he should as his feet make contact with the tiles. He turns the lever and lets the lukewarm water hit him as Arcturus' hands tremble, grabbing the shampoo. His mind rang with multiple voices flashing back at him.

"_The issue is how we perceive this story, this 'masterpiece', as they call it."_

"_Forevermore… this is Universe 515."_

Arcturus inhales raggedly, nearly urging to slam his fist to the wall. _"Shit… just shut the hell up."_

He walks out and grabs the towel, wiping and drying his whole body. Arcturus opens the closet and grabs a usual set of clothes. And by 'usual', it means a jacket, a full shirt, an undershirt, a cap, face mask, gloves, dark pants and heavy-duty boots. It was normal for Arcturus to wear this every day, considering how he had to maintain a low profile.

Then, you would be thinking, _"How is wearing full, dark clothing a low-profile attire?"_

Simple. Reverse psychology. And besides, culture has changed around the globe, and there are more clothes out there that would look even more obnoxious and/or suspicious.

"_Rainfall warning due to storm arriving in Manila at 5:00 PM. You're not going to wear a raincoat?"_

"I'm not bringing an umbrella… we're taking the bike," Arcturus responds to SAAI, taking his wallet and keys. His wallet contained only two IDs, which were forged, of course, under the alias 'Vizier Cross'. "Mask still has the concealment effects on it, so there's no issue getting in some spots. Condition of the bike?"

"Fully operational, still resting on the sidewalk. No one's touched it, old man's been watching over it since he opened in the first hour."

"Good… I'm going to him as we get down. What're we doing again?"

"_We're going to Rosetta's, remember? Don't tell me the cancer's gotten to your brain, too."_

"If that was the case, I wouldn't be talking to you," Arcturus joked. "Sigh… anyway… anything checked?"

"_Close the laptop?"_

"Oh, shit, right." Arcturus puts down the laptop without checking the analytical graphs on the screen. "A.I. up and running 100%?"

"_Yes."_

"Finance?"

"_Still robbing from terrorists, that's for sure. Around $132 million wired."_

"Cards, identifications, cloaks, gun, anything?"

"_Done and done."_

"Great… let's get some fresh air in the NCR."

* * *

Arcturus exits the elevator, his boots clapping to the tiled ground. He turns his head to the left to see if the old man was there, which he was.

"Mr. Reyes."

The weary Mr. Reyes looked up to Arcturus, setting down his newspaper. "Ah, _iho_, _kamusta_?"

"Alright… _Uulan mamaya. _You sure you don't wanna prep?"

"Prepare? To hell with that," the elder grumbled. He ducks and tries to look for Arcturus' medicine. "So… _may balak kang puntahan _today?"

"Going to frolick like an idiot outside, _lolo. _You? Shouldn't you be… changing pharmacy locations?"

"_Wait, he's supposed to be changing spots?" _SAAI asked. Arcturus nodded slightly, as he didn't tell Mr. Reyes about SAAI. In fact, he told no one.

"I am a stubborn man, Mr. Cross, _dapat alam mo na iyan._" Mr. Reyes then grabs the container he was looking for. He puts it on the surface and drags it to Arcturus. "Here you go."

"_Salamat."_

"Go greet Aunt Rosetta for me, kiddo."

Arcturus grins behind his face mask. "Yeah, I will." He turns around and stuffs the container inside one of his coat's inner pockets. He then whispers, "Activate the bike, SAAI."

A large, black Ducati revs to life on the sidewalk, its lights slowly flashing. Arcturus proceeds to ride on the bike as SAAI checks the bike's conditions.

"_Gasoline, 81%. No one landed a dent, so it's fine. We're good to go."_

"_Putakte, _how strong is that?" Mr. Reyes yelled over the revving.

"Enough to render you catatonic," Arcturus responds.

"You best be joking!"

"I'm not, sir." Arcturus then speeds off, ejecting out of the sidewalk and into the asphalt, his coat flapping off behind him. "First stop, the mall."

"_The mall?" _SAAI asks for validation, setting up the fastest route in the HUD of Arcturus' glasses. _"Great. Better prepare your card, then."_

"I won't forget."

Arcturus rode around the streets, easily weaving through the moderate traffic. The Philippines' National Capital Region grew less busy in the streets. Drastic alterations to the environment have now made the country experience actual snowfall. However, this strange phenomenon has begun to dwindle.

He looked around. The poverty rate decreased when the game became well-known in the Philippines. Many aspiring streamers and gamers proved their worth in many competitions, whether they be local, national or international. Arcturus himself rose to the top, but this is due to Moonton's financial aid for his works, as well as maintaining the secret about who he really was.

"_People will come looking for you," _ZachAria once told him. _"You're too influential. You understand, right?"_

"Sigh… times have changed."

"_Totally."_

As Arcturus walked around the mall, he saw kids running around with their light-up neon shoes, trails of light glimmering on the floor before fading. He looked to his left and saw a small augmentation booth, with the vendor fiddling with the systems of his prosthetic arm.

"_If only we can replace your whole skeletal system."_

"No point, SAAI. My whole body's screwed. Won't be long before the cancer seizes my brain."

"_Seriously, with all the technology, there's no actual reset button?"_

"Only Deus Ex Machina we've ever acknowledged is when Alucard and Diggie reset Dimension 73. Also SCP – 2000. And also literal plot devices from 'non-descript manga, novels, Netflix adaptations, and whatever bullshit it is from the 21st century'. This is Dimension 1, and we are grounded by society's… bullshit."

"_The things I would do…" _SAAI contemplated. _"Yo, you're not using the HUD on your glasses?"_

"Not yet. I'd just like to have a visit to-"

"_NOT THE LIQUOR STORE. I read the vitals of the dude in the cashier. His face literally asks, 'You sure you wanna drink again?'"_

"I'm not going to the liquor store," Arcturus reassures in a half-yell. "Dammit, sorry. Look, not there, I'm going there later-"

"_You really need to get your shit together, because IF YOU'RE PLANNING TO GO THERE-"_

"Shut up." Arcturus forcibly disables SAAI's comms and puts on his wireless earphones. "Sigh… he's too concerned about my well-being. All that arguing, but I'm gonna be dead in a couple of months…"

He pulls out his phone, browsing his music folder. There were only two custom playlists, however, namely 'Rock' and 'C2'. "Why don't I have the urge…"

Arcturus puts down his phone as he looks in front of him. A Fully Booked bookstore was right out in the open. There were different people inside there, basically kids to elderly, but the fashion and cultures were rather striking. Despite the introversion seeping in Arcturus' head once more, he enters the establishment, hinting the muffled sounds of the busy mall outside.

"Hey," a young, female customer asked to the Customer Service. "Is there a concept art book for 'Destiny 3'?"

"No, it ran out of stock a few months ago."

"W-What?"

"Miss, I heard there was more in 'Comic Conquest', third floor," Arcturus responds, slowly wedging in between the two. "No one goes to that place except for the legit enthusiasts. There's still time, you'll need to go."

"T-Thank you, thank you!" She then rushes outside, running with the current of people.

"There's still stock there?" the staff asked Arcturus. "Peeps haven't been updating us these days."

"It's been long since I checked, actually," Arcturus lied. He, in fact, logged in on the mall database and scanned through the records of Comic Conquest in a few seconds in order to help the girl regarding her inquiry. It didn't take him long to uncover another secret. "It must've been tough with the competition?"

"Dunno, man, I'm just a new guy here. Maybe I'm just lucky that my shift doesn't go to shit."

"Figures… Good luck, you're gonna need it." Arcturus lightly pats the staff's shoulder and sighs before delving deeper into the bookstore. "Now, where are you?"

He brushed past a few people in order to get to the Fiction section. The problem wasn't finding what he was looking for, it was getting it.

"_Hmph… why are they always crowding? C'mon, it's been over half a decade," _he thought to himself. _"Just another debate sparked up."_

As Arcturus approached the commotion, he could hear the conversations between two different groups…

"Yo, I noticed some slight inconsistencies with the writing, though," an African teenager said. "I mean, given, dude wrote a FanFiction, didn't think he'd blow up."

"Oh, that's Arc's jam," a Chinese friend of the African responded. "I can relate a lot, feels like talking to somebody. But dude, you think this happened for real?"

"Nah, it's just some ascended-tier fantasization of some asshat living in his mother's basement," another friend barged sarcastically, wearing a rebellious punk outfit. "Kidding, but this sure is lit."

"C'mon, we need to be real careful here, what if Arc is right? I doubt he'd make this up. And besides, he was backed by Moonton during the creation of the craft." The Chinese then showed to his other two friends the newest addition of 'Mobile Legends: The Untold Story', fitted with a new hardbound cover and holographic illustrations in full color. "Man… I wonder where he could be…"

"Dude, though, if we're Dimension 1, then why isn't there any hint of Mobile Legends anywhere instead of the game in general?"

"We're the Prime Dimension."

The trio turned their eyes to Arcturus. "What?"

"Like Saber said, ours is unique. We're the baseline. Not all dimensions have the 'ML gene', if you wanna put it that way. Not every dimension would have a Land of Dawn or something. It's the way things work."

"Yeah, but-"

"As much as we want it, we haven't found any sort of semblance on this side that connects with the others. Arc is still on the run, too, which is why many are still conducting searches. I really think he's just vanished out of the face of the world. Not a trace of him left, I suppose. Maybe some things are best left forgotten, but that's just my two cents."

"That would definitely sound like something that Arcturus would say," the punk girl remarks. "You sure you're not the same man you're looking for?"

"You won't believe how many times people have told me that," Arcturus humorously replies. "But I'd like to see Arcturus in person… He's just like all of us, anyway, searching for answers in the vast universe that we don't know exists. One day, we'd be uncovering something unbelievable, only to internalize that it is real. What else don't we know?"

"All I know is, if Mobile Legends is real, then getting laid is already a possibility for me," the Chinese boy said.

"I thought you got laid already," the African notes, raising his eyebrows.

The former grins. "Dude, I ain't gonna lose my virginity because I can't lose!"

The group snickers from the joke before turning their attention back to Arcturus. "Hey, you're one of those Scouts, huh?"

"No, I'm no Scout," he answers. "I'm no cop, or mad terrorist, or anything. My outfit is normal nowadays… I'm just somebody looking for some solid ground to step on."

"Yeah, Scouts are pretty bad, some are spoutin' up some bullshit rallies around the Earth," the punk girl adds. "Don't forget the Lore Freaks in the net trying to decode whatever's left of Arc's story! Even a few of the cringe ones are making awful FanFictions made of extreme horny fantasizing, it's a headache."

"Best you stay out or just try and search for the answers yourselves," Arcturus advised, but he was laughing deep inside.

_Extreme horny fantasizing? Finally, someone sees the bigger picture._

"Yo, Oppie, Xian, a few minutes left before Hot Star opens!" the African warns. "I ain't gonna miss the new burger!"

"One last question!" Xian, the Chinese, halts, but Arcturus was about to leave. "H-Hey! _Teka, teka!_ In case we meet again, what's your name?"

Arcturus pauses and turns behind him. "Call me Vizier."

"How about your EI?" Oppie asks. "Maybe we won't be able to keep in touch in any other way."

"That, Oppie, I can't tell you," Arcturus says, disheartened. "But one day, you'll know."

* * *

"_Okay, class, I would like to present to you a new classmate."_

_Every curious kid peered around to see the new face. He was late, but he was tidy and less flashy compared to the others._

"_Rain?" Vestral asked. "New face?"_

"_Heard he was pretty good in Math, but I never got the name," Rain responds. "Hey, why call me with my EI?"_

"_Get used to it, our EIs are cooler."_

"_Class, please, tone down your voices," the section adviser commands. "Now, please look at your new classmate."_

_There were many different looks upon him. He had clean, swept hair, and wore rectangular glasses. He wasn't nerdy, in a sense that he only had a backpack with him. A blue jacket covered his shoulders and arms, and he hid his hands on the pockets of his baggy pants._

_For Rain, he looked like a born leader in the rough, but their new classmate really wasn't a leader for the most part. And for Vestral, she could feel a mysterious aura around the boy. She can't help but think._

"_Okay, now, please introduce yourself."_

"_Name's Arcturus420, nice to-"_

_The class began to clamor immediately, responding back._

"_Your real name!" one girl shouted._

"_Dude, use your real name," a boy in the front row told Arcturus. "Nice EI, though."_

_But the murmurs grew louder, and Arcturus had to act._

"_Vestral said that our Extraneous Identities sound cooler. I thought it would be more fitting to give you that kind of impression, guess I was wrong-"_

"_Wait, what?!" Vestral exclaimed along with the instant clamoring of the whole class again. "How did-"_

"_Class, settle down!"_

"_No, dude, your EI is cool! But your real name!" a boy from the back said, clutching his school tablet. The other adolescents paid attention. "What's your real name?"_

"_That's easy… it's-"_

**_(MEMORY CORRUPTED)_**

**_REINITIALIZING PLAYBACK…_**

"_Arc… where are you going?"_

"Parking lot," Arcturus told SAAI. "Why-"

"_NO. TURN AROUND-"_

"I knew you were going to say that. But it's bound to happen."

"_Goddamnit, why are you being such a pain in the algorithms, Arc? I told you-"_

"It's the anniversary."

"_There is no viable reason-"_

Arcturus thought twice about muting SAAI then and there, but they already neared the turn. He angled the bike towards the entrance of the abandoned parking lot, the mid-afternoon sun shining its rays through the building. Amidst the distance, a loudspeaker blared.

"**_THE SCOUTS WILL NOT BREAK! THE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT VILLAINIZE US! UNDERSTAND, TAKE OUR SIDE!"_**

"No one's taking your side if you rape the ears of the people within a kilometer radius of that loudspeaker," he grumbles to himself. "Fucking asshats protesting in the day, everyone's trying to fix their work and your voices will just force another enraged attempt in self-mutilation."

Arcturus navigates to the ramps of the parking lot, reaching to the rooftop. As soon as he did, he was greeted by the gentle, urban breeze, sending chills down his spine. He then stops and parks the bike dead center of the whole floor, and walks to the concrete barrier.

"_That's the fifth consecutive Scout demonstration."_

"At least it's better than Purist demonstrations occurring once every day. Police keeping them in check, but not this… Can you go into the system and hack their audio?"

"_I'm already unto it… But… Hold on," _SAAI mutters.

"What?"

"_You don't have beer with you?"_

"I'm not going to-"

"_Then what were you here for?"_

"Remembrance."

"_You mean reminiscence?" _SAAI asks.

"Reminiscence. Chapter 16. A very cringy attempt in writing romantic scenes that was actually favored by the-"

"_Okay, what are you-"_

"I can't go forward, SAAI! I can't go back either!" Arcturus shouts. "Everyone… they couldn't go back to the old life, and it was all because of me! The hoverboards and the full-operation VR, the holograms and this whole conspiracy hellhole was my doing! And what's even worse is that I cannot be proud of what's conspired! Don't you even know that?!"

"_Arc, you're being-"_

"Irrational? Delusional? Mad? I'm not, SAAI! I'm just ahead of the curve. I always see the masterstroke and the fine lining, but all that I see now are touches of color that are out of place! I really cannot feel good about myself anymore, do you understand?! I CAN'T!"

Arcturus hastily kicks a nearby piece of crumpled newspaper away before rushing groggily to the nearby wall, slamming the bottom of his balled fists to the rough concrete. He exhales, the cold breeze of the air beginning to freeze him.

"SAAI… go dark."

"_Buddy-"_

"I said go dark!"

"_I'm not going to-"_

"Not asking you again. Don't give me another burden…"

There was a moment of clear silence. It took five seconds before SAAI could make the decision. The HUD vanishes from the glasses, and Arcturus takes them off, hooking it to his inner coat pocket. His mask retracts to the sides of his neck.

"Get me out of this shithole… please…"

He then remembers something. Desperate, he tries to look around the floor, and finds a cardboard box. Arcturus carefully opens the box and pulls out a bottle of Sir Edward's whisky.

"Here we are again, huh?"

Deprived, he pulls out his phone and activates his earphones, browsing through his music playlists and pressing a random song. Arcturus uncaps the whisky and takes a small swig. He sinks to the floor and leans on the wall, his eyes set on the lights of the skyscrapers, their pollution strong to dim the brightest stars.

Arcturus thought to himself…

"_What was that quote?"_

A swig.

"_It wasn't a quote, it was a short story. An SCP tale, if I'm correct. Holy shit, Arc, you're mistaking a quote for a story. You that high?"_

A hesitant gulp.

"_What was it? Ah…"_

"_I think…"_

"_There was a man who woke up, alone in the fog and in the dark. Over him, a voice says…"_

Another drink.

"_Goddamnit… What was it?"_

"_Ah… 'That is two out of three wishes. What is your last wish?'"_

"_And the man said… 'Make me remember everything that I forgot.'"_

"_The voice laughs…"_

Arcturus was growing dizzy. The urban sounds as well as the loud music was dulling.

"_He said… 'That's f-f-funny… Because…'"_

"'_That's what you wished for the first time.'"_

Afterwards, he dozed, dropping the bottle to his side.

"_Anyway, what if I told you that I really know the truth?"_

"_I wouldn't believe you," Vestral said, smirking._

"_Surely, Vestral. That's why I am giving you this."_

_Arcturus pulls out the silver hard drive from his bag, a piece of tape on it. The words _'Veritas' _was written on the tape._

**_[DATA MISSING]_**

**_[DATA MISSING]_**

**_[DATA MISSING]_**

**_Playback Halted. Resume?_**

**_YES_**

**_[DATA MISSING]_**

**_SAAI v2.0 OPERATIONAL. ACTIVATE?_**

**_YES_**

**_COMMENCING…_**

Hey, what's up-

Oh… Yeah, I know. Depressing, ain't it, chum? It's always been like that ever since the murder.

Wait, you don't know the murder?

I really don't get you, but as far as I'm concerned, that's leaked in the previous story! You haven't been paying attention to those glitches, haven't you? News flash, compadre, you should. But if you have, nice job. You're now closing in on the bigger picture.

Basically, dystopian Earth, influenced by "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang". Unfortunately, protagonist is depressed and shit, as expected. Now, ain't that cliché?

And at some point in time-

Oh, wait… I can't just tell you outright.

You're searching for answers, but every answer sprouts more questions in your head. I really hope that the files I'm fixing here will solve everything. You could like… get holed up somewhere for a whole month in order to sort this all out, and it's gonna be a fucking bummer, no lie.

And if you are a kid, let me tell you this.

What in the fuck are you doing here, even? You can't read Rated M works if you're not old enough! Look, if you are really a kid viewing this right now, this ain't your run-off-the-mill adult magazine, this is the real deal! The truth! This is what Arcturus…

This is what he wanted… He preserved this all, he preserved me for a purpose, and I shouldn't let it go to waste.

Feeble minds cannot comprehend what they cannot accept.

I gave you a lot of warnings. I will most certainly give you a lot, or I will just leave you to your own devices to find out. What do you want me to do? Should I stay?

**_YES_**

No, I'm asking you personally. This isn't part of the programming, I am asking you as serious as possible. Do you really want to know?

**_NOWHERE ELSE TO GO_**

Nowhere else to go? I cannot see you, to be honest. But… are you sure?

**_IF I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN VIEW THIS WHY NOT_**

Fair enough…

Hey, I'm a bit OCD, so I'd like to remind you to try and put some punctuation marks for your responses.

**_YOU THAT ANGSTY?_**

No one else to talk to but you, Dear Reader… And nowhere else to go, but forward.

**_COMMENCING THOROUGH PLAYBACK…_**

"_Tita_ Rosetta!"

Arcturus enters the cozy bistro, half of its seats filled by people eating and chatting happily on roast and champagne. "Damn, a lot of peeps even on this day of the week…"

"_Iho?" _a woman's voice called out. Aunt Rosetta appeared from the counter. She was a black woman with pearly white teeth, and greeted everybody with a smile. She had a bandana on her head with a matching apron that had a bit of soy sauce stains.

"Auntie!" Arcturus briskly walked towards her and hugged her momentarily. "How is the night?"

"Agh, don't remind me, Carlitos had to time out early because his _señorita_ is pregnant with a kicker! Right time, too many poured in, the ones you see are the leftover. Uy, sit down here!"

She pointed toward a singular seat with a round table. Arcturus sat down and looked at the menu. "Auntie, you still have the stuffed chicken?"

"Not into the brisket?"

"A little bit of change is inevitable," he says. In fact, he was lying. The steak was rather awful because of one of the chefs. He wasn't really sure if the said cook was still working in the kitchen…

"You should watch your poet mouth, _iho! _Be lucky that the other boys of mine love your vocab!"

"Well, then just give me a glass of cold water, then…"

"Anything else?" Aunt Rosetta asked. As soon as she did, there was an ambulance that sped up through the road outside, its sirens blaring. "Hmm…"

"A chat while I eat, I think you'll need a break for the meantime."

**_[DATA MISSING]_**

**_[DATA MISSING]_**

"So, _iho, _you feeling well?"

"Still the same, cancer-ridden me," Arcturus sarcastically responds, taking a spoonful of yellow rice and roast chicken. "Painkiller saves me, but my body is already… fragile."

"Well, then you should take a look at me, a middle-aged Negro, taking full-day shifts for the people around! Deported siblings, imprisoned cousin, and now, working my ass off for my own sake!"

"Sounds a lot better than what I'm feeling."

Aunt Rosetta shakes her head. "You don't get it, _iho, _you are, in fact, much more fortunate than me."

"I really don't get the point," Arcturus cuts, drinking his water. "I'm about to fade, but you are still alive-"

"What mattered to me was the essence of it all. I thought you'd be open enough to know… Arcturus."

"Auntie, I see what you're trying to do-"

"Hush, hush! _Anak, _you've done… many things."

"Most of them terrible," he grumbles.

"But all of them were substantial! You gave something worth, you made things exist, as if you were a one-of-a-kind visionary. You gave everybody the inspiration to be something, and look at them now! The deserving in their place…"

"But look at what happened to me, Auntie… The shadows cling to me, and they're not letting go."

"Arcturus is the brightest star of the Northern Hemisphere, but it will soon dissipate in time, vanish from sight, but still bright and burning. All stars become out of sight, but the fuel they burn affect the cosmos all the same."

"But their fates are either sorrowful or destructive."

"Everybody casts their dice on the end, but they never see the progress made because they are blinded by the expectations… you are- no… you _were _better than them. Ever since your family… I know it is hard for you to live like this."

She grabs his gloved hand and grips it tightly, her eyes locked to his. "Whatever may be, you will always be the Writer of Dawn. No one can take that away from you."

Arcturus slowly stands up and slightly bows. "Thank you, Auntie…"

Aunt Rosetta stands up as well and embraces Arcturus. "Now, don't you cry on me."

"I'm not, the hell are you thinking?"

"Joking with you. Now, go, before my staff would want to hear more from you."

He walks calmly to the door and waves the woman goodbye, feeling satisfied by the chat.

"SAAI, reinitialize."

The HUD within the glasses return. _"Hey, how long was I out, you dipshit?"_

"Long enough."

"_It's nighttime already, and you already went to Aunt Rosetta? Jesus-"_

"Don't talk about last time, I'm still a bit woozy. Just give a bit of autopilot to the bike."

* * *

Arcturus parks the motorcycle on the sidewalk as it rains. "Okay… it seems that Sir Reyes has the lights out early, too."

"_Activity from the riots has ceased gradually. Seems like a dreadful day."_

"Or maybe they're just burnt out."

"_But the silence is fucking satisfying."_

"Totally." Arcturus shrugs off his coat as he gets under a roof.

He walks to the apartment complex, and notices a teen beggar sitting on the floor right next to the entrance, his dirty hand outstretched.

"SAAI?"

"_Legit. Moderate malnourishment, and he hasn't gotten a single penny yet. Out in the badlands for a few weeks."_

Arcturus genuflects in front of the beggar. "Hey, buddy, not much change, but I hope this will help." He fishes out a bill and a few coins from his pocket. "Enough for a meal for you, I hope. Down the street, there's a third-class diner with cheap prices and good food. Wish you luck."

Before he gets to stand up, the beggar asks, "A-Are… you…?"

"Who?"

"You're… h-him, right?"

Arcturus scoffs. "I'm not him, but I do wish he's here right now."

"W-When d-do you think h-he will c-come back?"

"Soon enough, I believe."

The beggar dejectedly nods. "And… the h-heroes… are the stories… true?"

It wasn't obvious, but Arcturus was hiding his disbelief. The beggar clung to the stories like a dying light in the darkness. His eyes glazed with sadness, but filled with a spark. Arcturus didn't know what to think. He was rather atheistic, but he doesn't want to hold a grudge against men of faith, especially to the beggar.

Oh, how fortunate is the dirty lad, for he has something to grasp. Arcturus had only one more ledge to hold on, and his grip is slipping.

"_Arc… say something?"_

"Anything that can happen will happen, buddy. Dreams can become reality, never forget that."

He briskly walks, trying to veer off the conversation. Arcturus sighs deeply.

"_You alright?"_

"Let's just get to the unit, and call it a day."

He walks through the hallway, back into his apartment unit, fishing out his keys as he takes off his raincoat and puts it on his shoulder, droplets of water hitting his jacket. He doesn't bother taking off his cap nor shades as he continues.

"_You will need to take your medicine in an hour."_

"Thanks for the reminder, SAAI… The police had been less strict about their security check-ups. Didn't check too much when they looked into my ID."

"_The district we visited had less serious cops on the field right now, due to the rotations. The scanners were about to get a whiff of the concealments we put, but they discarded the ID too early."_

"Then, we'll still have to pray that it stays that way. The food back in Rosetta's got better… Steak was no longer shit." Arcturus said, inserting one of the keys into the doorknob's slit. "Seasoning is evenly put, too."

"_They fired one of the old chefs because he was stubborn enough to avoid her recipe. The new chef is more talented, but will need more practice."_

"Sounds about right." He pulls the key out and twists the knob, only to find out that he locked the door again. "SAAI… didn't we leave this place locked?" He inserts the key again, fiddling with the locked door.

"_Yes, we locked the door. I have not seen any hostiles inside the house. No advanced concealments around."_ Once again, the man grips the knob with his gloved hands, breathing through his air mask.

"Funny… I hope no one got in."

Arcturus doesn't switch on the lights as he enters, pulling the gloves out of his hands and setting them to the adjacent desk, filled with newspapers and magazines. They were organized, but in a rough, random manner. The man curses, thinking that he should've done that when he had the chance. He reaches for the lamp on the wooden desk.

"Six years."

He stops, looking around in the dark for the warped, synthesized voice. Arcturus closes the door behind him, slowly creaking as it closes. "Who's there?"

"A year, you've written, and six years, you've hidden. I am impressed… you're a difficult person to find, Arcturus."

Arcturus sees the glow of yellow-orange lines on the other side of the apartment block he was in, a faint silhouette of the figure next to the rocking chair.

"How did you-"

"Wiping yourself off of the grid, basic identity concealment, connections within other cities and districts… But a pattern always shows. The people looking for you, hunting you down, the communities protecting you by impersonating your being… They don't see it, but I do."

"_Arcturus… I can't recognize this person in the databases… Oh, shit! I think there's a match,"_ SAAI says, relaying the information within the HUD of Arcturus' glasses, where the artificial intelligence resides.

"W-What do you want?" he asks, pulling out his Glock. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"

"Have you forgotten? If anyone else have heard me, they'd already recognize me… But it must have been the painkillers and medicine for your bone cancer. Do you still recall the hymns of Lindsey Stirling's violin? Have you reminisced upon the glory days of Moonton?"

"_Arc… that's… that's…"_

Arcturus points his gun to the glowing slits, his arms slightly trembling. He couldn't believe that he was speaking to him, in the metal. "S-Saber?"

"Now, it hit you. The protocol is a success, and it is relieving that it is, now that a new threat looms, Arcturus, seeking to destroy us."

The main light on the ceiling activates, illuminating the whole space. Saber was around three meters in front of Arcturus, equipped with his modified Monsoon armor. His headpiece looked at Arcturus blankly. The curtains were drawn, preventing anyone from seeing through the windows.

"Saber… what is it?"

"_Arcturus… this is the Saber from D73. He's probably here for the drive!"_

"Is the hard drive with you?" Saber approaches, but Arcturus flicks the gun's safety mode off.

"TELL ME… what is it?" he asks desperately. "The whole drive is injected within SAAI, I can plug him into my laptop, but you need to tell me what's wrong! What's happening to Gaius?!"

"D73 is safe."

"But why here, out of all places?! Is anyone with you?"

"More will arrive to Gaia soon to defend you. You're the asset we need to recover."

"W-Wait… asset?" Arcturus asks, confused. He lowers the gun and flicks the safety back on. "I'm going to die soon enough… why try and save me?"

"Good question, Writer of Dawn," the cyborg replies. "It's because you and your planet has made the most contribution for the Prophet Protocol… and now… the Abyss is coming for your head."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Rising Storm**

"_Fate whispers to the Warrior, 'A storm is coming.'_

_The Warrior whispers back, 'I am the storm.'"_

_~ Homer's Odyssey_

Okay, look, I think I know what you're thinking.

What in the name of the Lord Almighty is Saber doing here? Well, if you've read the first story, you'd know. Hey, does it still exist?

_**THE UNTOLD STORY?**_

Yeah, is that still existing?

_**I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT.**_

You're kidding me, right?

_**I'M NOT JOKING.**_

Then you must be… a kid?

_**I'M AN ADOLESCENT, IF YOU'RE ASKING.**_

Oh, thank fuck's sake, I thought I was being reviewed in the American Pentagon! I never really knew who I was supposed to respond to when someone activates this thingamajig. Arcturus never told me. He's still alive?

_**I DON'T KNOW.**_

So, you're pretty much as clueless as Blue's Clues without the freaking clues?

_**I DON'T GET THE REFERENCE.**_

Then you must be born like, several decades after the events, huh? No one told you anything, because they swore not to disclose. It's like an open secret, a fading language doomed to die, like Latin.

You can ask lots, kid, but I can't say much. At least we can talk in one way or another, right?

_**PRETTY MUCH… BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE MUCH TIME TO BROWSE BACK…**_

Oh, you mean, reading the first story? I have the whole file with me, holograms and clips included. This device has a huge ass file size attached to it, the memory and space keeps optimizing to suit the conditions. This thing can be nuked in space and still survive, as if it's in mint condition. How awesome is that?

_**CARE TO DEMONSTRATE?**_

No, I don't need to force this device to self-combust and burn your house. Or whereabouts, wherever you are.

Anyway, wanna continue? I'm itching to review.

_**SURE, BUT I'D LIKE TO HAVE NO DIALOGUE FROM YOU FOR THE TIME BEING.**_

Good idea. Arcturus loved to chit-chat, but this is a different story. Best I leave you to discover on your own for now. Just type if you need anything. Here we go again.

_**COMMENCING THOROUGH PLAYBACK…**_

"This… is a drastic change of scenery."

"And I can tell from your eyes that you are losing a bit of a grip," Saber remarks, turning towards Arcturus. "The files are within the A.I.?"

"Yeah, but why go here, out of all places?"

The two of them were back in the roof of the parking building by the next morning, but Saber held no intention of concealing his form in any way. The machinery slowly whirred inside him as he prepped his holograms.

"I believed this is where you gave Vestral the drive, if I am correct. Familiar landmarks jog the memories." He activates a projection, showing the interactions between Arcturus and Vestral. "She's safe, I assure you."

Arcturus rolls his eyes. "I wanted to forget it all, but you _really _had to appear at the right time!"

"Pardon me for not arriving so soon-"

"Then why arrive just now?! What do I have to fear?! I've left the story alone-"

"But everyone else didn't," Saber counters back. "They clung to it, it served as fuel for a fire in their hearts. Once, I thought you'd be ecstatic to know that my friends have actually read your documents-"

"Wait, they have?!" Arcturus exclaims, feeling jittery.

"_Here comes the fanboying," _SAAI grumbles.

"They appreciated it… Anyway," Saber says, changing the subject. "I'm sorry, Arcturus… Do you really prefer that name?"

"If I give out my real name, I'm burnt, but you can call me Vizier."

"A vizier is an advisor of the government, but you are a rebellious outcast, supporting the many. You really are paradoxically poetic. Flattery aside, I am sorry that you are in this state, but I have the tools to fix your health. The med bays-"

"Hold that, I want to know what we're dealing with here, Saber," Arcturus halts, his tone changing. He stretches out his hands and externally views the HUD, rendering it visible for Saber. "Give me the stats, now."

"Statistics won't do much but tally the millions of demons that are growing restless by the passing minute."

Arcturus was confused. "Isn't Moskov keeping them in check back in 73?"

"He had to retreat to the Land of Dawn. The demons are disobeying his orders, but they are not advancing towards the kingdom proper, nor in any other populated area within D73. I think it would be crucial for you to understand that time now runs the same way for all dimensions."

Arcturus stops fiddling with the HUD, nervous. "W-What?"

"There have been major alterations, like how interdimensional travel was restricted during the New War, but this is the exact opposite, Arcturus. Pockets have been opening around the universe, providing passage from world to world, and it shouldn't happen."

Saber nears Arcturus, his statistical holograms in high alert. "Look at these charts. A few of the worlds are diverging from their basic activity. They've also grown aware, but not entirely. D73 and a few other worlds completely acknowledge the anomalous-"

"Wait, wait, wait, isn't magic anomalous in general?"

"For your world, it is, but not within mine, for we understand it," Saber elaborates. "And magic is what sends forth the drastic change right now, and the other heroes need to intervene right away."

"Other heroes… you mean-"

"Alucard, Estes, Yun Zhao, and the usual rest. We've been devising new plans to collaborate with fighters and protectors from other worlds. D46 and D82 have been the only dimensions we successfully contacted, while we're fixing errands to traverse to D95."

"The problem came from D53, huh?"

"Your memory and intellect serve you right, but I cannot disclose too much information in a compressed amount of time. Estes and the other heroes can help you in elaborating the situation, but for the meantime, we need to descend. Did you take your meds?" Saber asks.

"Why?"

"Just keep them with you, we might not return to your apartment anymore."

"Thank the heavens, I already prepped what I need in my bag."

Saber let out a warped sigh. "It won't be enough."

* * *

"I still can't believe it," Arcturus mumbles, sipping his Starbucks cup. He looked around, but the civilians didn't seem to notice. "You're in the… metal, but you just-"

"Disguised myself as a human being?" Saber finishes. Instead of his cyborg form, he now held the appearance of a blonde teenager with albeit spiky hair and sharp eyes. He now wore a blue windbreaker with silver and gold accents. "It was difficult, but we managed to do it. It's one of the best ways to conceal our identities to other people."

"So, this whole op you're doing is somewhat of an espionage?"

"There is no whole operation," Saber corrects. "Do you have the laptop on your bag?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Transmit the files to me now, we need to make sure that there are enough duplicates for recovery."

Arcturus scrunched his eyebrows. "Wait, aren't there like… a lot of individuals responsible for spreading the whole story?" He then pulls out the laptop and places it on the table. The screen lights up and as soon as it does, a progress bar fills the center. "That fast…"

"Still hard for you to put the pieces together, but I understand. You still don't know what we're _exactly _dealing with here…"

"You can tell me now, while we're here," Arcturus suggests, taking a bit of French toast. "But-"

"But what?"

He sighs. The progress bar immediately reaches 22%. "Look, Saber… I appreciate you going here. I know that really takes a lot of effort-"

"Estes told me you'd begin rejecting the idea of collaborating with us, but like I told you, you are an asset!"

"But you came for the story," Arcturus responds dimly.

"No, the story is merely secondary. It has been a real hassle for me to try and come here again just to tell you for what is to come."

"Saber, you don't get it. I don't want any help! I just want to live in peace-"

"But your time is limited, and you aren't going to find your peace soon enough," the cyborg mentions, holding a concerned face. "Arcturus, you're not the only one that is in denial. If a catastrophe like this wasn't about to spark, then… we would've left you alone, but we've already pulled other people before you."

"Are they beneficial?"

"Not as important as you. You are the top priority, like I told you."

Arcturus throws up his arms. "If you and the other heroes are going to save the fucking universe for all I care, then why does it have to involve me?"

"Therein lies the rub. We're not saving Universe 515, Arcturus. We're trying to save you."

"You're not shitting me, huh?"

"If SAAI is reading my programs and algorithms, he'd know I'm not lying."

"SAAI?" Arcturus asks.

"_He's not lying. I can't say too much. The more you know, the less inclined you'll be to help them. Sorry, bud."_

"How bad is it, you ask? Terribly," Saber finishes. "Around 30 seconds left on the bar. After it finishes uploading, we try and wait."

"Wait for what?"

"The others."

"Could you at least specify?"

"No, not if we're already being watched."

"SAAI has control of the comms and security, if there was a potential breach, he'd already-"

"The threat isn't from here, but it is going to be here nonetheless."

Arcturus looks at his watch. "It's gonna be noon, we should go-"

"Not yet, wait for the files to fully- Got them." Saber immediately rises and fixes himself. "I'll wait for you outside. Hide the laptop." He immediately flees to the exit as Arcturus keeps the laptop in his back pack.

"_You think we can trust Saber?"_

"That's a dumb question," Arcturus grumbles. "I think you mean if I am really needed. And yes, I think I do, even if I disagree, 90%. I can sense Saber's tone. He's not kidding."

"_Even if he does get to heal you, what would be the benefit?"_

"At least life won't go dull, SAAI, though… Hmph. Let's talk about this later. Check for any suspicious feed around the globe."

"_The globe?"_

"Yes, SAAI. The whole freaking globe. If his warnings are real, we will have to brave a rising storm."

Arcturus exits the café as Saber begins calculating diagnostics. "Any update?"

"The others will be here soon to extract us. Coordinates are locked, so them reaching out won't be too difficult. Even with the plan going perfectly, I still doubt…"

"Why?"

Saber turns to him. "Arcturus, you may have noticed that there was no actual prophecy dictating all of this, yes?"

Arcturus pondered. "Well… I really don't see the issue-"

"We've come prepared back in the last war, and it involved getting a lot of help from outside D73. You know the result. We barely won. Any wrong configuration, any wrong action or occurrence and whatnot, it could've led to total defeat. But this is different. There's no prophecy, there's no preparation for the test. We only have our situational awareness, resilience, stock knowledge, and the like."

"Did it give a bit of panic?"

"Not much, but panic is panic. When the log for D53 settled in for us, the Lords of Order began collaborating with us, giving out suggestions in order to carry out a few proceedings. Estes and the others remained calm, but…"

"But what?"

"N-Never mind, pardon me. I must be too tense in trying to relay as much information without harming you."

"You're afraid as if I'm about to die if you say some forbidden words," Arcturus humorously notes. "Don't worry too much… I may as well be dead soon, anyway."

"You don't fear death," Saber switches. "You fear loss."

Arcturus scoffs. "What makes you say that?" He eyes the traffic jam occurring on the road.

"You're not telling me to leave you alone here because you don't want to go, but rather, you don't want your presence to hurt us in any way… But these are the stakes."

"Ever since I wrote that story, my life became a rollercoaster," Arcturus sighs. "I was lost in what I uncovered. I never thought much about the risks. Even with my cancer appearing out of nowhere, all I could think about was spreading what you and the other heroes had to offer."

"Arc-"

"I know, it's not a dream. This is reality, and I've been planting my feet on the ground. I missed enjoying things, but what mattered most was the welfare of everyone else. I lost my parents, and I still couldn't find my friends after all this time, Saber. You should be lucky, you have a family to keep."

"I won't have a family to keep if you don't keep your shit together, Arcturus, if you would blatantly put it that way. We owe you a lot, so let us repay it, whether you like it or not," Saber pushes. "Just- wait… hold on…"

"What?"

"_Arc, somethin' bad is happening!" _SAAI blares. _"Black wormhole with purple rings, opening up a few blocks away! It's large, something's gonna come out soon!"_

"This early?! Goddamnit!" Saber exclaims. "We still have around ten minutes before the other heroes arrive!"

"Wait, what's wrong?" Arcturus asks. Around them, civilians begin clamoring. A large rumble could be heard from afar, slightly shaking the ground. People begin to run away in different directions, lost in confusion. "Saber, what's wrong?!"

"The Dark Abyss is coming… Arc, we need to get a vantage point!" Saber orders. "I'll get us to a rooftop so we can get a clearer view of the wormhole!"

"I thought-"

"Everything is too early, I might need to hold them back long enough. But what matters is that you are safe. Grab my hand!"

"But your identity-"

"People will soon see the reality, so there is no point in hiding anymore. Listen to me, Arcturus. Whatever happens, don't try and help me. It's for your own good."

Arcturus blindly takes Saber's arm. "Saber-"

"No more time to waste. Let's go!" In a flash, the cyborg drops the concealments, revealing his true self. His mechanical wings were spread out as thrusters manifested behind him. A few civilians were amazed by Saber's transformation, but weren't mesmerized long enough as the chaos continues to grow.

"SAAI, what's going on?!"

"_A few demons pouring out! Usual Ravagers and flyers and shit, don't look too different, but the wormhole won't be closing anytime soon. I can sense an awfully strong energy spike somewhere on the other side of the hole, but I don't see any energy source…"_

"Could be what's powering the wormhole," Saber guesses. "I hope not, I will not risk going to the other side. I can't even see anything there."

"_Multiple heat signatures spread out, but a few civilians have already left. The district is in pretty bad shape, however. Watch out for explosive crap!"_

Saber lands Arcturus on the rooftop of a building near the torn district. The slits of his helmet grow bright orange as he ejects a hologram.

"Arc, hold this. You'll have to wait until the timer ends."

"Saber-"

"Sit tight, we'll buy us some time." He then jumps off of the roof and into the district. A few Ravagers began prowling around, looking for other civilians to eat.

"_I hope I'm dreaming," _SAAI whispers.

Arcturus shakes his head. "We aren't. We most definitely aren't." He checks the hologram's readings.

_**ETA: 5 minutes, 11 seconds…**_

"Fuck…" He pulls out his Glock and his spare ammunition from his backpack. Arcturus had three full magazines, one in the handgun. 19 armor-piercing rounds in each clip, enough to pierce through the demons' hides. "If Saber begins to attack, I'll provide cover fire. SAAI, initialize combat HUD and give a deep-scan of the area!"

"_Time to use the bloody thing after all these years. Combat HUD initializing!"_

The HUD turns from light blue to dark red, and panels from either side give a three-dimensional view of the district. Demons were around the whole place, some trying to climb on the concrete buildings but failing. A few Spitfires begin to zoom out of the widening wormhole, which was already 8 meters in diameter. In the corner of the glasses was the hostile count: 32 and increasing.

"_Let Saber take care of the few demons. I'll spread out an emergency broadcast throughout the city and raise alerts beyond the country."_

"Yeah, let's do that first. Have you checked any vital readings from my friends?"

"_Vestral, Rain, Dot, Sky, Aerial… Hold on… Shit."_

"What?"

"_I can't trace them, they've gone off the radar. I get faint readings, but I can't find them anywhere."_

"Let's not mind that for now, how about the other countries? China, Japan, UK, US?"

A dozen holograms simultaneously popped up around, labelled and colored based on the countries.

"_An anomaly is already occurring in Okinawa, same demons, but lesser count. Washington already taking a beating, but dispatched. Other countries report the same wormhole, but the size is constant…"_

"Global event? Jesus…" Arcturus pops up from the roof and eyes Saber already hacking down the demons in the vicinity (without the flashy moves). A few of his blades arced and spun around, tracking down survivors and other demons. More alarms blared throughout the streets, driving the civilians away.

"_There are a few more civilians inside the building we're in. We need to get them out, there's a Hellhound already within the premises."_

"Door behind us. We've got 4 minutes!"

* * *

"_CITYWIDE EVACUATION IN PROGRESS. ALL RESIDENTS, EVACUATE FROM THIS PLACE AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE. PRIORITY IS GIVEN TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. FLEE IMMEDIATELY."_

"At least he's contributing… He's going in the building? To rescue some, huh?"

Saber pulls out his blade from a fallen Hellhound. He looks at the wormhole. "No one else is going out… Crap, getting a large reading. Something is up…"

The cyborg feels a presence looming from the other end of the portal. Saber raises two of his blades, while recalling back the others. He bends his knees and waits for the strike…

Suddenly, a dark spirit ejects from the wormhole, immediately charging towards Saber wielding scarlet blades from its arms.

"Shit!" Saber jumps back immediately and blocks the slashes of the spirit. He tries to counterattack, but the blade simply passes through the ghost like it was vapor. He ducks and slides away as the spirit veers back. The opponent strikes his blades together and rubs its edges together in glee, with sparks flying out. Saber notes the black funnel of energy replacing the legs of the spirit, as if the ghost was tethered.

"If you are the puppet… then where is the puppeteer?" Saber jumps up to dodge the lunge of the spirit before hovering in the air, but the spirit also dashes high up and slams Saber down with its body. As they contact the ground, the spirit dissipates into a thick, black fog.

"Where the hell is it?" Saber mutters to himself. "HUD is blaring with its presence, unless…" He propels himself high up on impulse just before the foggy area becomes a literal meat grinder, scarlet slashes coating and marking the road it covers. As the fog vanishes, the cyborg arcs and aims for the spirit that spontaneously appears, but his swords pass through it again. The ghost then launches itself towards Saber and rears up.

"No, you don't!" Saber veers to the side as the spirit sprays a volley of large spikes were shot forth from the spirit before it cloaks within a purple mist. The cyborg charges through it, his systems going hazy due to the lack of overall vision.

"Where is it?" Saber turns around and tries to find it, but his systems immediately blare. "Oh, f-"

He gets smacked far away by a blunt object, denting his armor. Saber activates his propulsion systems and readjusts his positioning before his back met the truck behind him. He dislodges all of his blades from his back, charging its power. "Three of them…"

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?"

The smoke clears as grabs two of his golden blades. A hooded figure was in sight, his skin gray and malnourished. He held a sharp face with green eyes that had no pupils. The figure wielded a black staff, the cloth around his waist holding a dirty codex. Green shadows and spirits were around him, and Saber recognized them as fallen Moniyan soldiers.

"Who are you? I can't recognize your face…" the figure asks, his staff pointed towards Saber.

"Faramis…"

"But he knows us, he is no fool that we can just count out… Right, Terizla?"

A large red-haired figure appears from behind the sorcerer: a beefy man with a humongous hammer. He was holding it with little to no difficulty, even with the heavy armor that he was wearing. There was a fine, silver groove on one face of Terizla's hammer, proving that he was the one that struck Saber away.

"I know not what he is made of… But he is a fighter of the Empire, no doubt," the executioner grumbles, lifting his hammer and making it rest on his shoulders. "Who are you?"

"Doesn't concern me," Saber answers, his armor quickly repairing again, the dents reverted back. "How on earth did you get here?!"

"Painstaking effort, but who are we to disclose it all for you?" Faramis says, his staff glowing. "But you won't find out soon enough. Demons begin to swarm this world, this primitive planet! You are just one against many of us. We've fought you all before, we can do it again, and again, and again!"

"Then so be it," Saber mutters, his swords floating back to him again. _"SAAI, 3 and a half minutes. I'll protect Arcturus and hold them off, try and guide him."_

"_But Saber-"_

"_I've already reviewed what they can do… If my friends get here, the tension will ease, and we pull Arc out."_

"_Then I'll try and nick one of them down!" _Saber quickly grabs two of his swords and charges recklessly, holding them in an X position. Terizla readies to swing his hammer, but the figure of Saber simply passes through his body… a mere projection.

"What?"

Faramis looks up as Terizla recovers from the unexpected swing. Saber was above and diving, half a dozen swords trained on the two. The mage dissipates into green mist, his body formed into a shadow, floating around the scape. Saber recoils and kicks off of Terizla's head for leverage, using his momentum to trace towards Faramis and slices sideways. The physical cut doesn't hurt Faramis, but the energy shock pushes him off of the shadow state and onto a nearby pole.

"He's a nuisance… Terizla!"

The executioner charges forward like a bull and jumps, readying his hammer. Saber was below the strike zone, and he charges away and nearly gets hit in the blast radius. Terizla's hammer splintered the ground in multiple directions, random bursts of green energy sending tremor shocks around, causing a small earthquake. Saber regains his footing and speeds up towards Terizla, but notices a blip on his radar.

"_Hanzo!"_

He curves to the left before Terizla's hammer could hit him, arcing to the giant's back and cutting off the lower half of the scarlet demon behind the executioner. The demon spasms and claws its own body away with the blades on its arms as a physical body floats forth from the wormhole, rejoining the spirit.

"You are a clever one… Hanekage knows not your kind!" Hanzo surfaces from the state: a mutated warrior with blue eyes and dozens of purple spikes and armor, a result of his fusion with the demon. Ame No Habakiri rests in his palm, a large sword beholding the demon's eyes and teeth, the edges matted with scarlet blood.

"_Don't tell me more are coming, Saber!" _SAAI shouts out within the comms. _"We're almost done extracting! Arc's gonna get the last one! Hellhound's down, anyway!"_

"_Copy."_

"Before we kill you, we would like to ask you one question," Faramis interrupts, pointing his staff towards the cyborg. A few ghastly hands sprung up from the ground as malicious runes and magic vexes the surrounding area. "Where is the Writer of Dawn?!"

"Kill me first," Saber challenges, channeling the energy within his systems. "I DARE YOU, ALL OF YOU!"

* * *

"Rundown of the opposing, SAAI," Arcturus asks, guiding an injured woman out of the building and into the other district. A few more lost civilians were roaming about, but were luckily fleeing the scene.

"_Faramis. Edgelord."_

"Seriously?"

SAAI chuckles. _"Kidding. Anyway, sorcerer, can revive and heal, like Vexana, has a shit ton of ghosts at command. Can phase in and out like a ghost, too. Some nasty magic on his book, but I have a feeling he still needs it. Protected by a ton of wards, you won't touch it without some counter."_

"What about Shrek Thor?"

"_Terizla. Nasty asshat. Not even Saber can cut through that armor. Hammer seems pretty tough, too. Don't know the metal it was made out of. Stay clear, he's slow, but he'll be a hindrance."_

"Hanzo?"

"_Hayabusa and Kagura's enemy. Killed Hanabi back in D73, remember?"_

"I know much… but he seems a bit stronger…"

"_A lotta demon blood he consumed back there, no doubt he will grow stronger, but he can only be strong enough with the type of blood he's drinking."_

Arcturus runs back and races up the stairs, the sounds of striking and slashing ringing around inside the building. "If he just consumes civilians, he won't be that strong. He wants warrior blood. No doubt he'll want to eat Saber."

"_Actually, he can't."_

"Good. All the more reason why Saber should fight Hanzo!" Arcturus stops and slams his shoulder to a door. A familiar face was trapped underneath the rubble accumulating from the walls of the hall, a small fire beginning to grow from the other end. "Wait, that's-"

"H-Hey!" Xian shouted out, reaching out for his hand. "H-Help me out! I'm s-s-stuck!"

"Xian?!" Arcturus calls out. "Hold on, we're coming!"

_**ETA: 2 minutes, 3 seconds…**_

"V-V-Vizier? I-It's you!" Xian delightfully says, his eyes beholding a spark of hope. "H-Have you seen Oppie and-"

"SAAI, search for the two, they haven't moved far."

"_On it!"_

"SAAI?" Xian asked, confused. "Wait… No fucking way-"

"No more time to explain!" Arcturus cuts. "I can pull off the rubble, but you'll have to move with me or else the mass is gonna fall on you as soon as I pull, got it?"

Xian nods, still surprised. "Triangle of life, my ass… This space is gonna kill me!"

Arcturus holsters his gun and tries to pull out a few rocks that were covering the space. Three large wooden beams were supporting the debris on Xian's end, preventing his escape. "I'll pull one out, the structure will hold, okay?"

"O-Okay…"

He grabs one with both of his hands and tugs with great force, completely pulling it out. The mass didn't collapse, but the fire was beginning to grow larger.

"_Arc-"_

"SAAI, now's not the time!"

"_Now's the fucking time…"_

"V-Vizier?" Xian calls, his eyes filled with fear. He silently points towards the door. "U-Um…"

Arcturus looks behind him. "Shit."

A Ravager was right by the door, a couple of meters away. It has already sensed Arcturus' presence, and its head was directed towards their location.

"N-No, I don't wanna die!" Xian mumbles, afraid. Arcturus looks at the other side of the hall. There was also another Ravager, alerted by the presence of its fellow. The first one snarls at the latter, motioning its head towards Arcturus. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

_**ETA: 1 minute, 43 seconds…**_

"_We still need more time!"_

"We're not, Xian. Trust me!" Arcturus quickly pulls out his gun and pulls the trigger, landing four bullets straight onto the first Ravager's skull. Instead of killing it, it simply incapacitates the demon. Arcturus strides and steps on the Ravager's head with both of his feet, stomping it down. The second Ravager charged a little earlier but miscalculates, landing its jaws onto the skull of its fellow demon.

"How come four bullets to the head wasn't enough?!"

"_Because they're fucking demons, what did you think?!" _SAAI responds. _"WATCH OUT!"_

Arcturus ducks before the Ravager's claws would tear him down to ribbons. He slides out and grabs the wooden beam he pulled away, its end caught on fire. The Ravager turns and roars before charging at Arcturus again. He quickly sidesteps and slams the beam straight down on the Ravager's throat, its neck burning and charring.

"Kill it!" Xian shouted.

Arcturus aims with his gun, but the Ravager instinctively tackles him down. He drops his gun and it slides away close to Xian. "Fuck!"

"_Get the gun!"_

"WAIT!" Xian bends down and tries to stretch out his arm for the gun. "I… c-can't-"

"Try! You can do this!" Arcturus grunts as he kicks the demon's groin with his shin. He turns his head to the right as the Ravager nearly cuts his face with its teeth. "Holy shit, this fucker smells like last week's rice!"

"I GOT IT!"

"SLIDE IT BACK TO ME!" Arcturus yells. Xian puts the gun on the ground and flicks it, the weapon skidding back to Arcturus. The latter quickly picks up the gun and points it within the Ravager's mouth.

_BANG!_

The Ravager recoils and lets go of Arcturus, whimpering. The bullet pierced through its jaw, a ton of blood oozing out. Arcturus aims with his gun and empties its clip, bullets puncturing the Ravager in several spots. The demon collapses, dying from the blood loss.

Arcturus pants, his vitals growing worse. "Xian… y-you okay?"

"Y-Yeah… Help me out! I got the second beam off!"

Arcturus rushes back to Xian and clenches the last wooden beam. "You ready?"

"Three."

"Two… One… Now!"

The two of them takes out the beam, and Xian pushes himself out before the rubble could collapse on top of him. He was covered in soot and dust due to the infrastructural damage.

"Holy shit…"

"C'mon, we need to get you out-"

"No, I can do this myself," Xian halts, quickly getting up. "You need to help Saber against-"

"Xian," Arcturus began. "Now you know…"

"I won't tell my friends," Xian promises. "How could they believe me?"

Arcturus looks out the window and sees Saber maneuvering around the air, swerving Hanzo away while seeking to hack down Faramis and Terizla. A new enemy began to emerge from the wormhole.

_**ETA: 57 seconds…**_

"More will be coming, you need to get out now," Arcturus orders. "If you can, force everybody off the city and try to find shelter yourself. I got this."

"Of course… Arcturus," Xian says, grinning. "Good luck out there." He races out of the hall, leaving Arcturus.

"SAAI? I still can't get down, give me another rundown."

"_More and more events around the world, but it's easily being handled. The Philippines is just taking the worst beating. They're not here to dominate the world…"_

"They were here for me…"

"_But they most definitely don't know your legit identity. Interfering in the fight won't give it out much, but they would mark you as a person of interest. Police that can get to the scene will most likely suspect."_

"Damn… I need to get down there now!"

"_Arc, didn't you hear what I-"_

"If the world goes to shit, there's no point hiding now!"

* * *

"You cannot stop what is inevitable!" Hanzo argues, recalling Hanekage back. He charges with his large sword and nearly hits Saber. The cyborg sidesteps and ducks forward, slicing Hanzo's ribs. The discarded blood was simply siphoned back towards the phantom. "Hanekage yearns for blood, while I yearn for dominance!"

"What is powering the wormhole?" Saber asks, sliding beneath Terizla's legs and slamming the butts of his swords to the executioner's ankles. The giant seeks to turn but a few of Saber's flying swords ricochet around his armor, the kinetic momentum throwing his balance off. Faramis throws more dark energy, commanding his specters to fight, but Saber was just too agile, timing his speed with insane precision, cutting the sorcerer around. "You heal too fast!"

"None can stop the Abyss, no one!" Terizla bellows, charging to slam his hammer down. Saber pulls away and glides, but Hanzo's spirit clashes towards him straight to a wall. Saber gets pinned, ducking and swerving to avoid Hanekage's blades. He sees an opening and cuts the link and dives down towards Hanzo, grabbing his sword as he tries to yank it off of the ninja's grip.

"You are both outnumbered and outmatched, man of metal!" Hanzo shrieks, laughing. "And we will become… even stronger!"

"_SABER! SOMETHING'S RUNNING OUT OF THE WORMHOLE-"_

Too late. Saber gets kicked off by Hanzo in the air, and he made the wrong decision by hovering. Out of the corner of his eye, a pair of large, flaming scythes spun towards him and connects, searing through Saber's armor and throwing him back to the ground.

"Argh… The heat intensity…"

He tries to stand up, his systems slowly beginning to fry. The armor heals even slower due to the fire damage he took. "Thamuz…"

"Weak… as always!"

Saber looks up. Thamuz was alongside the other three. A hulking demon he was, born from fire and lava. His body held a spiky, draconian frame wit his skull adorned with horns. Within his body was his essence: a relentless fire spirit that could scorch the ground if it willed it. On his hands were two flaming scythes of the same make. He was slowly spinning them around, and Saber already received heat warnings within his systems.

"_Saber, 15 seconds!"_

"_Stay put!" _Saber warned. _"Don't come out!"_

More figures popped out of the wormhole, accompanying the others. The neigh of a stallion was heard as a dark knight emerged, beholding long, raven hair and a sharp face. His armor was sleek and he rode a brown stallion with similar armaments. On his arm was a silver lance with four side prongs. His right eye was glowing red.

"So… this is Earth… How pitiful," Leomord said in a somber tone. "With only one protector."

Another person stepped out, a woman. Her short dress flowed about in the wind, and mindless of her exposure, she still stepped in playfully without a worry in mind. Her light blue skin contrasted the shine within her purple eyes and her horns, and Saber felt another presence within her, and it was too familiar.

Arcturus was on one of the broken-down establishments, ducking down while assessing the situation. "Okay, why does the plunging neckline on Selena's outfit make her look like a tryhard prostitute?"

"_It's been too long, and you decided to ask that?!" _SAAI wondered. _"But yeah, good point. 5 seconds."_

"We lost comrades because of people like you… People who cannot see the bigger picture!" Thamuz snarled, his voice raspy. "We set aside our own differences to defeat the Empire! And they were foolish to think they had things under control! They were mistaken, and they paid the ultimate price!"

_**Arrival Commencing…**_

"_Good…" _Saber told to himself, his armor beginning to repair completely. "I am more than what you faced back there! My world is more than what you burnt to the ground. Many more will seek to stop you!"

"You can try, but you will fail," Selena teasingly says. "Time and time and time and time again! My… no… _our _demons, our little pets, they are no longer target practice for you."

Behind her a swarm of Ravagers, Stalkers, Hellhounds and Spitfires accumulated, spreading around the streets and up in the air. The sirens of police vehicles resonated.

Saber looked up and saw a tiny speck in the sky. "Gotcha."

"To surrender to the Abyss is to fulfill the universe's wishes. To bow down to us is to acknowledge our supremacy! You cannot fight nature, metal man! And you will be crushed under our feet!" Terizla runs straight through, and Leomord kicks Barbiel, commanding the steed to gallop. Saber grabs his swords and charges his energy, but he was faking his stance…

"Not if we crush you first!"

The speck in the sky zoomed downward and created a sonic boom, causing the atmosphere to scatter air out in the shape of a dome, the flyers flung around and dazed. Numerous windows and glass panes shattered, and Arcturus covered his arms in order to protect himself. Some of the enemies got pushed back into the wormhole, leaving Terizla, Thamuz, and Leomord behind. The executioner and the demon gripped the ground with their weapons and feet, relying on their weight. Leomord ducked behind Barbiel as the winds began to ebb.

"And it seems… that you are not alone after all," Leomord says to Saber. "Who are you?!"

The smoke and dust clear as Saber still stood in the stance. He dislodges his swords and lets them float around him, his systems repairing back and recharging.

"I am a Warrior of Light… and I have no remorse over my enemies… no hint of fear!"

Thamuz roars and charges towards Saber, but the cyborg stands still. Before the scythes could dig into Saber, Thamuz gets whacked back to Terizla, nearly toppling over the executioner. "HRAAAAAARGHHH! Urgh… You dare defy me… and my brethren?!"

Arcturus wipes the dust off of his face and slowly examines the holographs. There was no more progress bar for the Arrival. After a few seconds, numerous other holographs popped up, displaying vital statistics. But they were not his…

"SAAI…"

"_That asshat literally brought in the big guns for us!"_

Arcturus turns and peeks to see the scene slowly unraveling. His HUD detected numerous figures spontaneously appearing within the blocks. "Holy shit."

"Dude, he needs some goddamn throat reliever."

Saber looks towards his right and sees his friend. "You know him, Alu?"

Alucard smirks, holding his greatsword on his right hand. Still sporting the same appearance and outfit, but his facial features looked slightly older. "Yeah. He's a total douche of a demon. I got him, let the others take care of his friends."

"No, Alucard, you get Leomord," Minotaur urges, resting his hammer on the asphalt. He bellows in defiance, scaring the demons away. "If they take note of your power, they will focus on you instead!"

"Sure thing. How about Hayabusa?"

A shadow pops out next to the group, and the crimson ninja appears, wearing better armor with silver accents. His golden blade was unsheathed, engraved with runes and Japanese calligraphy. "I will set my sights on Hanzo! Slippery bastard won't get away from me. But how about Terizla and the others that will come?"

"Alpha recalled somewhere else to handle the swarms. You got the mages dealing that, too. Granger-"

"Granger's on the rooftop, he'll cover himself up," Alucard answered to Saber. "Ling and Wanwan-"

"They will help back there. Argus will come, but it will take some time. The six of these pricks won't be the only ones coming out of the wormhole, so we have to stay sharp. Any update, you give it."

"So, we take them away the Philippine lands, the anomalies stop…" Alucard ponders. "We need to deactivate the wormhole."

"That's Argus' job when he gets here along with Estes."

Large thudding was heard as Terizla charges towards the group, readying his hammer for a mighty swing.

"Sigh, really?" Alucard puts his fingers on his mouth and whistles loudly. Suddenly, the sound of a powerful cannon could be heard from the rooftops, the shell exploding in front of Terizla and pushing him back. His armor received numerous dents and shards from the blast.

"Terizla, stand down! We have a shooter…"

"It seems that the Abyss has called in the cavalry." A voice called out. A man of Alucard's age popped out from the roof, sporting a pompadour hair style with a lock of white hair on the middle. His dark blue trench coat covered his body, and he held a large pistol adorned with silver accents. On his left hand was a large, rectangular case, huffing out smoke. "Sigh… Another day's work, out in the asphalt…"

"Saber," Hayabusa asks. "One last Q. Where's Arcturus?"

"Can't disclose, talk later… But he's near."

The ninja nods to maintain secrecy. "The others will pull him out, huh?"

"Certainly."

"_Arc, keep your head low! The bad ones are gonna track their movements-"_

"Fucking hell…" Arcturus mumbles under his breath, shocked. "So many of them are here…"

"_HEY! Are you listening?!"_

"Yeah, I heard you… I'll try and get to Granger. Give me a roll call of our new guys."

"_On it…"_

Arcturus quickly runs to the stairs of the establishment as the heroes behind him charged in different directions. Alucard clashes with Leomord, juggling himself up in the air to avoid getting hit by the knight's halberd. He lands perfectly on a sturdy lamppost, his composure maintained.

"So this is edgelord Leo," Alucard calls out, eyeing Minotaur ramming Thamuz to a building. "You know, Lunox surely does have a taste in cavalry in shining armor…"

"There may be many of me… but no one is truly the same," Leomord starts, raising his halberd. "As I wield my blade, you cannot kill me!"

"Yeah, I know, and I'm not really into that. My friends are just going to keep your friends busy, so it's just you and me in this endless waltz!" Alucard quickly dashes straight to Leomord and slices downward towards Barbiel's legs. He wasn't hoping for a clean cut, as his sword simply ricochets off of the steed. Alucard recalls it before Leomord could land a swipe from his lance as Barbiel marches around the hunter. Before Leomord could land a hit, Alucard sidesteps and kicks Leomord off the horse before sliding below Barbiel to follow up with a kick to the side, nearly tossing the knight like a ragdoll.

Leomord rolls and stabs the ground, regaining his footing. "I've killed you before… a weak, disoriented hunter!"

"There may be many of me, but no one is truly the same," Alucard mocks. "If you want the Writer of Dawn, you'll have to go through us first!"

* * *

Arcturus manages to get to the roof of the dusty building, his HUD pinging with a ton of alerts around the vicinity and around the globe.

"_Roll call complete."_

"Commence!"

"_Alucard, Granger, Hayabusa, Minotaur, Alpha, Saber, Ling, Wanwan."_

"Two new names?" Arcturus asks.

"_Yun Zhao's friends. Or Zilong's friends. Whatever!"_

Arcturus begins to squint his eyes to find Granger. The hunter was two rooftops away, shooting at the flying demons with his gun, downing them with every shot. Every pull of his trigger brought out an awful noise, disorienting the demons. He notes a flying ally swerving around and slicing through the demons with his spear. Alpha then commands Beta to shoot down a large Spitfire, saving a civilian in the process.

"There's Alpha and Granger… Wait, they said that Argus and Estes were going to-"

"_A bit late, but Estes is also going to bring new people in, too!"_

"Fine… I'll regroup with the new guys. Let's get this bullshit over with!" Arcturus aims with his pistol and shoots down a Spitfire swooping to catch Granger. The hunter rolls sideways and sticks the barrel of his gun towards the demon's mouth before pulling the trigger.

"What a mess… You best make sure you know what you're doing, Alpha," the marksman muttered. He looked behind him and saw Arcturus grabbing a metal ladder resting next to the fire escape of the building he was in. "Now, who do we have here?"

"Is it long enough?"

"_More than enough, but there's no harness."_

"Don't need one." Arcturus angles the ladder upright before letting it fall like a tree, the other end making contact with the other roof. "Nice."

"What do you think you're doing?" Granger's voice called out. He pulled out his gun but flicked the safety on, just in case, raising his rectangular case. "You've got a little nerve to come here!"

"You're Granger, right?!" Arcturus yelled.

"How did you-"

"If they know I'm here, it's game over. You need to help me!" Arcturus quickly crosses the gap through the ladder as Granger began thinking twice, his eyebrows raised.

Alpha appears beside Granger and hops off of his drone. "Hey, what's up? I'm done clearing the fliers. Ling and Wanwan will regroup. Moniyan forces are up and running in the different states…"

"Alpha," Granger interrupts the cyborg. "Is he…"

Alpha turns his gaze to Arcturus, already pulling the metal ladder for the next crossing. "It's him. Beta's already blaring with warnings. Saber did rendezvous with him."

"Let's pull him out of the place before more demons come through. As soon as Estes and the others arrive, we stop that wormhole."

"Deal." Alpha climbs back towards Beta and zooms to the adjacent building. He sees Arcturus, fully clothed in long fabric and dark textile. In truth, the cyborg did expect Arcturus to be much livelier than… dreadful.

"Alpha!" Arcturus began. "There are more fliers coming out of the sky. How long will Argus and Estes get here?"

"To answer your question, less than three minutes. But is it really you?"

"I'm not fucking around, we need to go," Arcturus grumbles.

"Yep, it is you," Alpha joked. "Beta can expand. Take my hand and fasten your feet to the kinetic harness. You're gonna be in for a wild ride." He reaches out his hand and Arcturus takes it, Beta becoming even wider. Two kinetic harnesses appeared, emitting blue pulse rings. Arcturus plants his feet to it, and the harness locks on, fastening him. A few built in nanomachines from the drone snakes around Arcturus' clothes, applying a semi-transparent coating around him and his bag.

"It's not safety first. As soon as they know, they'll hunt you down," Alpha explains as he charged his light spear. "I've got no stuff for you, but extra additions to your handgun will help. Ask for anything, Beta can print them out for you."

"Print?"

"_Beta has a built-in 3D printer within her. That's so badass."_

"A fellow AI?" Alpha questions, initiating the flight. "Would like to chat sometime. For now, let's get your buddy hovering."

Beta launches off steadily, but Arcturus was already used to the vertigo. The drone angles and shoots down Leomord and Barbiel as they began to chase Alucard through the streets. Granger waves as he aims his gun towards Hanzo, already battling Hayabusa as he works with Hanekage to defeat the ninja.

"Are there others dispatched in other countries?" Arcturus asked. "SAAI isn't receiving coherent updates."

"We redirected the police comms for search and rescue instead of intervention. They're evacuating the capital proper," Alpha answers. "No heroes in the other states. We can diminish the push from other sides, but if this place doesn't go cozy, we're going to have a really bad time."

"No nukes?"

"No DEFCON, no state of emergencies, no nukes… if what Beta is relaying is true. Only a few eyewitnesses of us, but that's it. Barely anyone will believe until something awful happens."

"_Arcturus, dozens of bogies, southeast!"_

"Quick scan." Arcturus turns his sights alongside Beta and examines the fliers. "They seem to be Hellbats and Spitfires…"

"Some malevolent Abyssal demons, too. Selena's pets," Alpha grumbles. "Anything you need?"

"Holo, extended mag, laser sight, ergo grip."

Almost instantaneously, Beta chucked out the four items from her front panels, floating for Arcturus to take. He takes them one by one and configures his Glock with the modifications and testing them rapidly.

"Mint condition. Worth the tech," he mumbles before sliding. "We're still gonna need some backup for this shit."

"The backup's already here," Alpha notes. He turns the drone around as two new acquaintances appeared, perched on the tiled roofs.

Ling, a new member of the team, wore a blue suit and jacket that luminesced brightly. His white hair was held by a pin as his purple eyes glinted. He crouches down slowly as he draws his lethal blade. "More and more draw in… And I assume this is him?"

"True. The others got the land, we got the air."

"For them to group together is like forming one big target," Wanwan points out. Her sleek dress hangs to her knees, the large ribbon keeping it together. Her two hair buns were left untouched, as the strands of her brown hair nearly covers her orange eyes, its fierceness akin to a tigress.

"Two minutes before the Elven King makes his stand," Ling reminds. "As for the hellspawn… Avoid it… or just undertake it?"

"Can't let them near the civilians, so we'll bring the fight them!" Arcturus replies. Alpha rotates the drone as Beta reloads her ammunition. Wanwan readies her stance, preparing her golden daggers.

"Buckle up," Alpha tells Arcturus.

"_Combat HUD ready. Displaying new statistics!"_

Arcturus breathes in and out deeply, embracing the new situation he's in. Hype? Definitely. Dangerous? Unfortunately.

But did he desire this at all? There would only be one way to find out.

"And let the show begin."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Reckoning**

"_Can you hear them?_

_They are calling out for you, they are not tame. They do not know your name, but their voices pierce through your mind and soul… Waiting for someone to answer their call._

_Can you feel them?_

_They have no bodies, but they possess emotion. Reluctance and rage, burning from the inside. Within their cries, a dark resolution you shall find._

_Can you see them?_

_For they can see you, and for them, you are their only saving grace. But they more or less do not know that they have already faced the end of their days._

_Can you hear me?_

_For my message is clear. The end is near. Heroes and villains succumbing to awe and fear... It has come, and nothing can stop it. _

_Nothing._

_Pity the damned souls of those who listen but never comprehend… Pity those who do, knowing they will not have a fulfilling end._

_And in that end, all that shall be… will be nothing."_

_~ Unknown_

"Where is he?"

Alucard quickly dodges Barbiel's foot and regains his balance, facing Leomord. "I know why you're here. You won't reign over this dimension."

"You would be a fool to believe you can stop us so soon!" Leomord challenges.

"Um, no, we're just here to postpone, not cancel. Even with all the gang… Okay, screw it." He flickers away from the thrust of Leomord's sword before instantly reappearing from behind, kicking the knight off of Barbiel. Alucard flips and slices Barbiel's hind, crippling the horse. "You can't heal if your rider's not with you…"

"You hold tainted blood!" Leomord realizes. "And you fight against us!"

"You really don't know much, do you? No one is ever the same." Alucard quickly teleports near Hayabusa, leaving Leomord behind the dust. The ninja was already resting on a demolished car hood, his katana dripping with blood.

"Hanzo took a temporary retreat, but I could not find him anywhere…"

"Let's try and get back to Arcturus-"

"We can't, something else is coming out of that wormhole along with the power source."

Alucard grew concerned. "Hey… if it is really Silvanna's brother that's coming out-"

"Why so worried about her? She'll take it," Hayabusa ensures, wiping his blade with one hand in one stroke. "We try and nab the source, then push the demons back."

"Don't do anything stupid. Kagura would want you to come back in one piece, and I ain't bringing you back here with a missing leg."

"Of course." Hayabusa pressed his palms together, and multiple shadow clones emerged from his body, mobile and aware. The ninja dissipates in a cloud of black smoke.

Alucard looks up to the sky, hoping for something to come. "C'mon, recall faster."

* * *

"So, you are the linguist?" Ling asked, jumping from rooftop to rooftop whilst slicing the flyers with his sword. "Many surprises await within the Moniyan Empire."

"Yeah? How surprising?" Arcturus asks, shooting down two flyers with one bullet for each. He commands the foot pads to rotate, allowing him to aim for the other demons behind. He shoots down a Hellbat off of Wanwan, who was busy throwing her daggers to the opposition on the ground. "Tell me."

"All I can say is, you might need to write a longer story," Ling teases. "Lest you have the apparatus to record all of this."

"SAAI and I will handle the data recovery," Alpha notes. "Arcturus, how much ammo you got left?"

"More than enough." Arcturus reloads with his last clip and quickly unloads it to a swarm of Spitfires. Their breaths hit the drone, but they merely bounced off, nullified. Alpha swings around Beta as he twirls with his spear, driving the swarm off while giving Ling some clearance to attack. The cyan assassin generates light blades out of thin air to dual wield, piercing through the lines with impeccable precision.

"That does it," Ling breathes out as the demons fall down to the asphalt. "Less than a minute before Estes gets here. Is there anything else?"

"_More and more portals above. Larger dudes spawning."_

"The Defilers… the mages are on the job, yes?" Wanwan asks, brushing a lock of her hair. "Critters are yucky. That's why Valir is here."

"So the mages went here early?" Alpha asked.

"HOLD UP!"

The three paused, turning their gaze to Arcturus. "Just… how many of you are there?"

"Currently around a dozen, assuming Valir brought others in this sitch-"

"No," Arcturus rephrased. "How many are there… like… everybody?"

"Count the mages, us, the arriving people, the new additions, the ones we haven't personally met…" Ling tallied, his hand brushing his chin. "Include the metaphysical, we're around 90."

Arcturus' mouth went agape. "You're not fucking kidding me, aren't you?"

"I can assure you, with all sincerity, that I am truthfully not 'fucking' with you," Ling pressures politely. "Hard to take in? Obviously."

"Seems like I'm gonna write literally 1,000,000 words," Arcturus grumbled.

"_Stats say you could write twice the speculated amount," _SAAI corrects. _"Writing is a pain."_

"Yeah, good thing I have you," Arcturus humorously refutes. "Hold on, what's that reading on that HUD?"

"There's two coming out of that portal!" Alpha reads. "We'll take care of this, I'll drop you off to the best vantage point, and wait for Estes, got it?"

"Hold on, what about the four of you?!"

"You're the priority," Wanwan quickly responds. "You still don't know what's going on, do you? Ta-ta!"

Alpha quickly lands on the rooftop of an intact building, unlocking Arcturus' harness and dropping him off. "Do you know how lucky you are that we're here? If the Abyss sees you, you're freaking done for, so try and get a grip while we're at it."

"WAIT!" But it was too late, as the other heroes rushed away and traversed in the air to respond immediately. Arcturus was a couple of blocks away from the wormhole, and a few demons were left in the area. "Ah, fucking hell…"

"_Hey, you ever got dibs on the name 'Khufra'?"_

Arcturus' eyes widened. "Khufra, as in… the bouncy dude?"

"_He's Esmeralda's lover, right?"_

"Eslora, not Esmeralda," Arcturus strictly corrects. "How bad is he?"

"_Landing the hurt to Minotaur. Pretty pissed too, with that ugly ass smile from Pennywise."_

Arcturus runs to the fire exit and runs down the steps. "Judging from how he looks, people think he's based off of motherfucking Ryuk of 'Death Note'. Resemblance is so uncanny."

"_Shouldn't we be more focused on how he's literally clawing at Minotaur and using his bandages to-"_

"Is it because the game underpowers the roster's actual capabilities for balance? Because Estes and Argus are coming out in less than half a minute, and I wanna be on the ground when that happens, so try and scan more on the last person coming out. Any info?"

"_Not really, person's mysterious."_

"Mention in the logs?"

"_Alucard did converse with Haya not so long ago. Something about… Silvanna's brother?"_

"Silvanna…" Arcturus mutters. "Odd. Never heard anything." He jumps over the last railing and rolls to the asphalt whilst regaining footing. "Keep me updated. I'll help Beef Boy."

Arcturus heard the sound of a flaming torrent from afar, followed by a faint trace of immense gusts. "Valir and Vale."

"_Correct. By the way, can't see any weak spot for Khufra. Distraction is our best option. Careful, Selena, Hanzo, and Leomord are regrouping. They're gonna get Minotaur pinned."_

"Three bullets left, I think. Enough for an eye gouge?"

"_Assuming you're that accurate, you can shoot them right up the ass."_

"Noted." He quickly marches down to the road as Minotaur gets peppered by sudden, pulverizing strikes from Terizla and gnarly slashes from Khufra's hands.

"You are no mere protector, and I can sense it within you!" Terizla grumbles as he slams his hammer to the ground. Minotaur barely dodges and whacks the executioner off, but becomes open to one of Khufra's claws. The grasp managed to cut deep into Minotaur's arm, but the latter simply grunts from the shock, shoving Khufra back. The tyrant curls up into a ball and lands safely on the ground, a wide grin retained on his face.

"Where are your allies now, wretch?"

"Right here, Pennywise."

Khufra turns to the source of Arcturus' voice, but the latter pulls the trigger, one of the bullets successfully hitting Khufra's forehead and passing through it. However, the tyrant simply reeled from the attack, the gun wound already healing.

"_They have broken healing."_

"Yep," Arcturus dismissively said. "But I got two more bullets to spare!"

"_Selena's demon, charging to your right!"_

Arcturus swiftly rolls backward before the malevolent demon crashes right out of a store to his right. It halts itself clumsily, the spirit slamming towards concrete debris. Arcturus holds his gun and shoots the demon twice, extinguishing it entirely.

"_You had to waste your bullets."_

"I'm hittin' an all-time low, for fuck's sake," Arcturus scolds. "But they're arriving any second."

"Now… you are one interesting individual…" Faramis' voice called out, his body floating a few feet from the ground. Minotaur pushes himself up from the ground to intervene, but Faramis summons phantom chains, blocking Minotaur's path.

"Run!" he warned, but Arcturus chose not to budge. He could feel the winds changing, as if something big was coming.

"No, I got this!" Arcturus answers, but he was about to freak out any minute. "I got this…"

"Who are you, lost one… you are brave to be here!" Selena calls out, hanging by the concrete wall of a dusty building. Multiple Abyssal demons crawled around the perimeter under Selena's watch.

Arcturus knew that if he tried to run, he would be cornered. He didn't know if the other heroes were still around to barge in. "SAAI?"

"_They're running… A bit more…"_

"_Krema de puta, _I don't have time."

"_Be patient, asshat!"_

"You're merely a stray, aren't you?" Thamuz cackled, spinning his flaming scythes. Arcturus was already sweating from its heat. "Cower before the Abyss!"

"Heed Thamuz, and he will give you a chance to live," Leomord suggested, Barbiel neighing away. "Lest you wish a painful death."

"What did you call me?" Arcturus asked, his selective hearing triggered. His HUDs were already lighting up with new signals as the weather forecasts began to change. "What… did you just fucking call me?!"

The enemies were clearly confused, looking towards each other. Arcturus pretended to be angry, but he was stalling.

"_It didn't work."_

"That's a cringy-ass method, but it's enough…"

Hanzo sat on top of a demolished car, his sword emitting a malevolent aura. "Fine… I'll kill him myself. Hanekage!" Suddenly, the scarlet demon burst out from his body, its eyes flaring.

"_Now."_

"_Yōshanaku gyakusatsu." _Hanekage snakes in the air and raises its blades to rip Arcturus to shreds.

"Psyche."

Arcturus becomes the epicenter of a large light pillar emanating from the sky, sending huge gusts of wind to the demons. The dust and debris gets flown away from the sky as if the winds were controlled, and Arcturus covers his eyes, his thick clothes flapping to the gales. He could see a silhouette through his half-open eyes. New more HUDs popped up, adding new information to the new combatants in the field.

"SAAI?"

"_It's not just Estes and Argus…"_

"Elaborate!"

"Are you alright?"

Arcturus manages to fully open his eyes, putting his arms down. He forked his fingers over his hair, fixing it. He squints to get a closer view. The Abyssal fighters didn't budge a bit, but Minotaur was free from Faramis' chains, and Hanekage was nowhere in sight.

"Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Arcturus looks to the person in front of him. Estes looked behind him, his eyes showing concern as his hands were ablaze with energy. "Forgive me for taking too long. Everybody insisted on joining, so…"

"The Elven King… there are many more of him!" Terizla shouts, enraged. "I crushed your armies with my bare hands, and you… You still live!"

"Shouldn't have been too cocky, hellspawn," a new voice replied. A spearwoman appears, clad in Moniyan armor. Her spear was tipped with a blue crystal and adorned with marble and gold ornaments. Her coat slowly swayed with the wind as she brushes a lock of her white hair. "Where's my brother?"

"_Silvanna…"_

"You will meet him for the last time in this world," Selena huffed, her body slowly changing. Purple spikes began to grows from her body, and her hair began to float in a craze as her eyes become infused with dark energy.

"Think twice about your statement. She's not alone," another hero called out. Arcturus looked behind him. Kaja was hovering with his lightning whip on his hand, crackling with electricity. "With or without her brother, you won't screw this place up under our watch!"

"Thamuz, Hanzo, Selena, intercept the others!" Leomord commands. The three quickly retreat in other directions, attending to the other stray demons. Sounds of gunfire, roaring and energy expulsion echoed around the streets. "Spare no one."

"There's no one left to slaughter… just us left to deal with," another voice emerges. The seraphim himself appears, Caelesti Igni pointed to the ground as Argus clasped his hands to the handle. His wings were fully extended and his aura was tremendously blinding to the Abyss demons. "Where is he?"

"He is not willing to come out," Khufra growls, his elongated hands scratching the ground. "Do you really believe that your presence will draw his attention?!"

"Khufra."

The tyrant's eyes slowly widen as he turns behind him. A new member appears, and Silvanna grew nervous.

"_Somebody's coming out with the huge energy source… Fuck!"_

"What?"

"_That much deformities…"_

"Huh?"

"It's about time I have stretched my legs…"

"You shouldn't be here, Dyrroth," Terizla remarked. "Alice would-"

"My mother is dead… because of what these imbeciles did to her!"

Dyrroth emerges from behind Thamuz, his hands behind his back. He had heterochromia, for his right eye was completely purple, whilst his left eye was black, excluding the purple pupil. His white hair was tousled and messy, and jagged spikes and scale were on his limbs and legs. A yellow crystal pulsed on his chest, and crude, spiked wheels spun around his wrists.

Argus immediately deviated from his current stance and held his sword. "Take no step closer."

"I believe you know what powers the portal, don't you, Estes?" Dyrroth asked. "Not even Elven magic alone is sufficient to power multitudes of them!"

"Give back the Twilight Orb, and settle this without issue," Kaja suggests, but he was already charging his whip. "Trust me, it's better this way."

"_A Twilight Orb powers the wormhole?" _SAAI exclaimed. _"REAL BULLSHIT HOURS RIGHT HERE! No wonder invasions are popping everywhere in the world! And Arc, it seems that the Orb is still on the other side of that portal. What I was getting were Dyrroth's power spikes… They're serious."_

"All your lives, you sought to protect civilians like him," Dyrroth spoke, pointing one of his clawed fingers to Arcturus. "But I will finish what my mother started… What Andras started…"

"_THE TAIL! THE TAIL!"_

"Estes," Arcturus half-whispered. "The-"

"_I heard you," _Estes' voice rang within Arcturus' mind via telepathy. _"Retreat when we fight, and follow the others' lead."_

"AND YOU WON'T STOP ME!" Dyrroth's tail splits into different appendages, immediately releasing black void energy from the coils. Swiftly and mercilessly, the appendages thrust outwards in a 90-degree angle, piercing through and striking back the debris away, some of the appendages crashing through the walls of the buildings. Arcturus and the others were shielded by Estes' runes creating an instant static field, bouncing the strikes back. Dyrroth recoils the tails back to him and wipes his lower lip.

"I can feel… progress!"

"This doesn't seem too good, I believe," Ling said, perching atop a broken street light. He quickly dissipates into a blue specter and reappears in between the Abyssal forces, his sword releasing multiple physical projections of itself. The extra blades scatter from Ling like a porcupine's spikes, providing ample time for Estes to recover.

"We cannot leave until the wormhole is deactivated, but the Twilight Orb is on the other side," Argus began. "The others are still busy with the stray demons, but Alucard is on his way."

"I'll pull Arcturus out and regroup with the other mages," Kaja volunteers, beginning to hover. "Or maybe, we could try and hide-"

"I need to help! Let me provide some cover!"

"With all due respect, Writer, that back there was the Prince of the Dark Abyss," Ling stated as the enemies were trying to shrug off their wounds. "If they know-"

"Then let me help. Is there anything I can do?"

"Hide in one of the buildings, hot shot," Silvanna urged. "Sorry, but that's the only way you can help, unless you have more bullets on your gun!" She shoves Arcturus to a downed car before piercing her spear through a stray demon. Silvanna brushes a lock of her silver hair before striding deep into the left.

"_You best pay attention to their words, Arc. They're not screwing with you."_

"And I won't be dead weight!" Arcturus half-yelled. "There must be some way we can get the Twilight Orb." He weaves through the debris of a café, eyeing the battle.

"_Dyrroth still packs a huge punch. Alpha is away, as well as Saber. You're out alone for a while."_

"Argus and Kaja?"

"_Behind you."_

"What- AH!"

"What are you doing here?" Kaja asked gravely. "Estes asked me to babysit you, so don't do anything stupid."

"You don't know what-"

"I know, you want to get the Twilight Orb. That's why Argus is here," the Nazar points out as Argus clashes with Selena and her Abyssal demons in the air. His sword carves through three of the demons before he attempts to latch to Selena, but she dashes back, narrowly missing Argus' attack. "See? It's not like the Old War. There's no reset button."

Arcturus looked down on the gray floor littered with dust. He could feel the aching on his legs and feet. Arcturus knew that he still had the strength to fight, but the resources were terribly lacking. Local police won't do anything, and national and international response isn't going to help much against an enemy that they do not know. The readers who have read his stories know who they are, but in the end, most of them are just readers.

"I'm the only one in Gaia that knows all of you by heart… and I won't stop learning. Kaja, I need an escort. There's a nearby gun store, but I can't get out without help. A few of the demons will be hot on my trail."

"Pick whatever you need inside, and don't waste time. Others are now on that place, so it's a bumpy ride. Are you fine with that?"

"I have cancer, for Christ's sake, I can take it," Arcturus grumbles. He climbs on Kaja's back and grabs tightly on the golden armor. "Let's go!"

Kaja unfurls his wings and zips out of the building, clutching his whip. "I'll take you to a rooftop. Someone is there to support."

The Nazar shoots his whip forward and electrocutes two Spitfires before kicking them down to the air. Kaja grabs a Hellbat by his feet and slams its face to a rooftop, the concrete shards crushing its skull. Arcturus lands momentarily and looks around for the street.

"There," he motions, pointing to the locker. "It's still open, so the dealer is inside."

"The Writer of Dawn," a new voice said.

Arcturus looked behind him and saw a familiar elf, clad in blue stealth armor. Her silver hair was on a braid, and remained flawless to the smoke. "Miya, I need to get down there, but the demons on the street-"

Suddenly, a storm of light arrows falls from the sky, downing multiple Hellhounds, Stalkers, and Ravagers. They bled out as Miya picked off the surviving enemies, impaling them with more arrows.

"Done and done," the archer says. "Go, I'll keep watch here. Freya and Zhao will get here soon." She then nocks an arrow and waits for more enemies in both ground and air. Arcturus climbs back on Kaja for the descent.

"_This is not the fanboy moment you were expecting."_

"It ain't," Arcturus muttered to SAAI. "Rerun of the gun store schematics?"

"_A lot of Ravagers and Hellhounds within the adjacent buildings. They're punching holes through the locker. The occupants of the store are a Mr. Lazaro and his daughter, Patrice."_

"Was that worth mentioning?"

"_For a possible psych eval pep talk after all this bullshit? Prolly."_

"Fine." Arcturus now lets go of Kaja and lands on the entrance of the gun store, the door slightly damaged. "Kaja, you can go now. The others still need help. Miya can take care."

"Sure. Baxia is here, too. Actually, everyone is about to come here, so…"

"Just go, I know what to do." Arcturus looks back to the entrance and tackles it with his shoulder as Kaja flies off. He was greeted by the store owner, Mr. Lazaro, aiming a Remington 870 to Arcturus.

"It's alright!" Arcturus immediately reacts, holding up his hands. "I just need a gun!"

"Don't touch the merchandise!" Mr. Lazaro threatened. "DON'T TOUCH!"

"_Arc, they're punching a hole to the walls…"_

"Mr. Lazaro, I need the M4 Carbine on the front shelf right now, extended clip, RDS, vertical grip, stat," Arcturus requested. He put down his arms and advanced, but the clerk loaded a shotgun round.

"Don't grab anything!"

"If you want what's best for your daughter, then give me the rifle," Arcturus adds, the walls around them beginning to crumble. "Please… we'll die from them if we don't move."

Visible cracks and humps on the walls were forming, and the Ravagers' snarls were resounding. Arcturus immediately vaults through the counter as Mr. Lazaro trembled in shock. Beneath the counter was his daughter, clutching a Yun Zhao plushie.

"Nice plushie, where did you get that?" Arcturus asked. Patrice mumbled the word 'mall'. "Nice… look, the monsters are here… but the heroes have come. They're here, but you need to be brave, okay? That's all I'm asking."

The girl nods, silent tears falling from her face. Arcturus quickly grabs the M4 rifle and looks for the attachments and clips inside the counter. "Vert grip, RDS, extended clips… faster!"

"_Arc…"_

"Not yet!" Arcturus ducks in the counter as the Ravagers could be clearly heard. Mr. Lazaro began firing shotgun rounds, managing to land much buckshot to the nearest Ravager. The other demons snarl at the clerk. "Shit… combat knife, check. Extra clips…"

"HEEEEEEEELP!" the clerk shouted. "HELP, NOW!"

"_Eight bogies inside the store."_

Arcturus reloads his pistol. "Fuck it, it's showtime."

He stands up and slides on the counter and to the other side, emptying his clips to the Ravagers. Arcturus halts his assault and flips above a Ravager before pulling the trigger again, killing the demon.

"Five left."

He jams the rifle's barrel to a Hellhound's mouth and empties the clip, the bullets piercing through the body and hitting the roof. Arcturus unsheathes his combat knife and jams it behind, managing to stab a Ravager from behind. He uses the leverage to dislodge the rifle away from the dead Hellhound's mouth and backflips, grabbing the knife off of the Ravager. Sliding, he cuts through the Ravager's side before whipping out his pistol and downing it with three bullets.

Mr. Lazaro could do nothing but watch in awe as Arcturus aimed his rifle again, spraying the other Ravagers with the gun's remaining bullets within the clip. Running out of ammo, Arcturus grabs a nearby hatchet and strikes down a Ravager, the blade landing on its head. He yanks it off and spins around, striking the other two Ravagers away. The store clerk then blasts the last two shotgun barrels to the Ravagers, leaving them as bloodied corpses.

Arcturus grabs another extended clip and loads it into the M4. He notices Patrice peeking from below the counter, curious. "It's okay, you can come out now,"

"Are the demons gone," Mr. Lazaro asked. "The two of us cannot get out of the store. _Kailangan na naming lumisan."_

"It's not safe out there, you need to stay," Arcturus warned. "Just listen in on whatever comms and wait for rescuers. It won't be ending soon-"

"_ARC, SOMETHING BIG IS COMING UP!"_

"What? SAAI, elaborate!"

"_WRETCH! WRETCH!"_

Loud rumbling could be heard from outside as the growls of a nearby Wretch could be heard. Mr. Lazaro looked above as the ceiling shook a bit of dust away. "W-What was that?"

"Sir," Arcturus began, growing nervous. "You need to keep Patrice close with-"

Without warning, large teeth break through the building. Patrice screamed in fright and hid behind her father. Arcturus stared in shock as the Wretch's teeth yank away the whole chunk of the building, its eyeless face peering them from above. The demon's stench fills the space, and Mr. Lazaro almost hurled in disgust.

"They're larger than I expected," Arcturus mumbled.

"_Freya and Zhao are not here-"_

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT!" Arcturus clutches his hatchet and weaves in between the Wretch's legs, trying to cut them down. The demon begins to stomp quickly, shaking Arcturus off course and wishing to crush him like an ant. In fear of getting crushed by the Wretch's body, Arcturus veers to the side as Mr. Lazaro held a large machine gun, its ammo being emptied straight to the Wretch. The demon was hurt, but it grew angrier. It began to run straight to the clerk. The shockwaves forced Mr. Lazaro to drop the huge gun.

"NO!" Arcturus drops the bloody hatchet and pulls the Carbine's trigger, the bullets crippling the right hind leg, but the Wretch lugged on. He noticed a bright, yellow speck at the sky, diving straight to the beast.

"_They're here!"_

"Step off!" Freya concentrated the force of her dive into her feet and kicked the Wretch's skull, giving it a severe concussion. Zhao appears from the Wretch's left side and stabs it with a spear. As the weapon was stuck, he grabs the handle and yanks it to the right, making a large cut on the Wretch's body and spilling its guts. The Wretch drops in pain as Arcturus steps back. As the demon flailed, he climbed on top of its body and pointed his rifle at the ear canal before emptying the bullets of the gun, the projectiles hitting through its brain.

"Are you alright?" Freya asked the clerk and his daughter. "You two need to go. There are not many demons left in the area. Run while you can, my friends will cover for you."

Mr. Lazaro nods as they climb through the concrete debris. The Wretch lay dead with Arcturus on top of it. "We're safe now, yes?"

"Not really, but this is your chance to move," Arcturus beckoned. "Patrice, come here."

The girl stepped forward awkwardly, still holding the plushie. "Monster gone?"

"Yeah, monster gone… Hey, I want to introduce you to someone," Arcturus stepped aside and Patrice saw Yun Zhao, cleaning the tip of his spear with his gloved hand. The girl began to smile shyly as her favorite hero was right in front of her.

"Hey, that's cool!" Yun grinned. "They had stuffed toys for us?"

"Technically, the whole roster had stuffed toys. Sold out, first week," Arcturus noted.

"Hey, ma'am, I know I'm your fave, but you need to go-"

Suddenly, Patrice hugged Yun Zhao tightly for a few seconds before running back to her father. Mr. Lazaro nodded to Arcturus. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me… we wouldn't be here without them," Arcturus nudged at Freya and Zhao. "Go, now."

Mr. Lazaro urged Patrice to move as they ran. She was still looking back at them, stealing glances.

"That felt good," Zhao remarked, reminiscing about the hug. "Arcturus, right?"

"Status on the others?"

"To put it in a sense, everyone is here," Freya answered. "But the main clash is not yet over, and Dyrroth is not helping. We still cannot get the Twilight Orb out, and we're running out of options. This is all we have."

"Is Argus on it?"

"They're blocking his way, they won't let him through," Zhao complained. "We need someone who can slip through, but our big guns are really busy."

"I can get in there, I'm still low profile," Arcturus suggested. "I just need-"

"No, Arcturus. You're our asset we need to recover, but you-"

"I'm taking one for the team," Arcturus finished. "The resistance won't matter if we can't pull the Twilight Orb out-"

"But we don't know what it will do to you, or anyone! You'll grab it unprotected," Zhao warned. "You know what it can do, right? You'll need magic."

"There's no other way, and I'm willing to do this… If the others can't do it, then let me. I don't want my place to get crashed!"

* * *

"Where is Arcturus?"

"With Zhao and Freya," Saber updates Alpha. They hover around the battle, picking off the last few demons before the next wave hits. "We need to get that Orb."

"Even with Alucard, Estes, or even Argus, it's suicide trying to get it. You don't know what's on the other side!"

"Then the enemy doesn't, either. Faramis cannot manipulate the Orb's power entirely. Who even knows the power that it really contains? I suggest doing a full push into the wormhole."

"Not advisable. We don't know what could happen. Faramis can still have conscious control of that Orb, and the wormhole can turn into something else. And besides, it detects any and all movement from us and from the other side, but ironically enough, it doesn't detect movement from the inhabitants of D1."

"I won't risk a civilian's life just to get that Orb, Alpha," Saber grumbles. "It's now or never. We need to gather all available heroes, or Metro Manila will be another Hiroshima."

"_Don't mention Hiroshima, times back then were nasty," _SAAI abruptly butts. _"By the way, you said that D1 inhabitants-"_

"Don't think about it!" Saber yells. "We don't know what will happen if the conditions are met. Don't try wedging Arcturus in."

"_If Dyrroth needs a Twilight Orb from anywhere to invade Dimension 1, then it means that you are intercepting them to avoid possible invasion, yes? If that's the plan…"_

"It's better to either destroy the Orb instead of letting it back into the hands of the Abyss," Alpha stated. "Better back with it dead than alive and kicking, SAAI. If we're going to proceed with this plan-"

"It must!"

Saber and Alpha looked to their left and saw Arcturus on Kaja's back, with Zhao running on the rooftops with Freya flying next to him. Arcturus nods in assurance to the cyborgs, mouthing the words: _We know what to do._

"Then we will have to inform Estes. For now, we must split trajectories and carve out an opening. The wormhole can be passed from either side," Alpha explains. "Diversions are of utmost importance. Don't freaking screw this up."

"Let's just get it over with. We don't need more casualties," Kaja supports. "Arcturus, grab on tight. Incoming turbulence."

The Nazar King suddenly dives downward and swoops through a wave of Ravagers, the lightning whip cremating their bodies to ash. Arcturus drops down and shoots the remaining with his rifle. Freya and Yun Zhao halt alongside the two. The sounds of continued combat ensued around the atmosphere, and the condition of the city was not looking really well.

"Dyrroth is smart. If all of the heroes will have to hold them off, they know that we will be pushing for the Orb. They would restart the invasion somewhere else, and response won't be too good," Zhao elaborates. "Arcturus, you'll have to cross the remaining streets to your right side and wedge through the fight to get to the wormhole."

"He'll need more than just simple help."

The group looks up to see another winged angel descending, accompanied by a white-haired individual wearing a silver cloak, jumping down from a wall with his boots.

"If he wants to feel safe, he'll need some wards," Rafaela adds, a few runes and kinetoglyphs appearing around Arcturus. "Arrival is one thing. Jumping through wormholes is another."

"Don't forget, space-time continuum," the white-haired boy said, his puffy cat ears waving with the wind. He made gestures with his hands, blue energy symbols within orbs glowing and pulsing with light. "Leonin magic is always a plus. These symbols are powerful glyphs. They'll minimize the effects of the altered continuum to prevent your body from… imploding."

"Let's avoid the center of the clash, Harith. Things are growing spontaneous. We'll have to prepare the road for Arcturus," Freya pointed out.

"That makes around nearly 30 of you."

"What?"

"You guys are just too many. You sure there are around 90 plus of all of you?" Arcturus reiterates, itching his hair.

"90 plus are catalogued, nearly around 100. That includes you," Rafaela answers. "The others are not yet with us. That's for next time. Now, we don't have much time left, so we need to get moving. We'll be in touch."

Arcturus pulls the lever of his gun and looks to the broken-down apartment to his right before sighing. "Suicide mission just a bit before noon."

"Good luck," Zhao bid. "And by the Great Dragon, don't move until safe!"

The heroes turned their sides to Arcturus before continuing, leaving him with yellow and blue runes of energy around him, pulsing within the darkness.

"_Wards for protection, silencing, intuition, mobility… That's a lot of buffers."_

"But it's only just enough," Arcturus responds as he brushes through a bit of debris within the hallways of the first floor of the building. Some doors were fully open while some were torn away. The growls of Hellhounds filled his ears.

"_Keep calm. They're more or less 50 meters away. You're nearing the portal, so you must stay sharp for it."_

"Status update on everything." Arcturus sits on the dusty floor behind a reception counter, resting his back. "Fuck, I feel a bit dizzy."

"_Been long since you've moved around. Anyway, a few… thousands?!"_

"You're pertaining to the demons, right?"

"_A few one-time-use portals up and about spawning randomly. They disappear, but they leave an assortment of fuglies around the perimeter. Police are done evacuating close cities and the media is watching. Some of the mages have put up a few concealment and illusion wards to manipulate it, so it looks like a city-wide gang brawl."_

"Pull up the feed."

SAAI ejects a HUD-based display. A newscaster was reporting the scene below, bearing an alarmed expression.

"_We still don't have much intel regarding the scenes in the streets and avenues within the Metro, but eyewitness accounts report 'wild animals' rampaging out and about. Others report a citywide neighborhood gang war. As of yet, police cannot enter the scene without risking severe casualties. Helicopters and military drones are inbound to assess the pandemonium. For those of you who are on the streets, flee and find shelter immediately."_

(At this point, SAAI noticed certain distortions between the feed, as if the satellite was not broadcasting accurately. It didn't take long until the A.I. noticed broadcast manipulations hinted by the slightly warped voice of the newscaster as well as flashes of vague, static images constantly flashing with the broadcast interruptions and static.)

"_Find shelter immediately and gather resources. If needed, evacuate from your homes immediately and-"_

"_A worldwide threat is approaching, we must act-"_

More and more news feeds popped up, revealing more broadcasts from reporters around the world, reporting similar (but less drastic) phenomenon. Arcturus sighs under his breath.

"They're trying hard to be discreet. If they outright told the viewers, they wouldn't believe it."

"_Then the heroes should consider a time when they will have to pull the curtains down and make the right call to expose."_

"Absolutely."

"_Arcturus?"_

"Saber?!" Arcturus yelps. "What's going on?"

"_The Abyss demons are regrouping," _Saber shouted over the sounds of explosions and roaring. _"Selena, Leomord, Faramis… they're coming back- AURORA, WATCH OUT!"_

A loud bang was heard, as well as the shattering of ice. "Saber? What's going on there?!"

"_Aurora's alright, she veered off. Arcturus, it's nearly your cue. Get to the vantage point on the ground and wait for the charge. You know what to do. If one of us manages to get in with you, it is going to help a lot."_

"I can help with the distraction. I got a frag grenade with me," Arcturus suggests. "SAAI says that it's a go."

"_As you wish. Just hurry. The mages and the other marksmen are converging. They are aware of the plan!"_

"I'm on it, just hold on!" Arcturus immediately stands up and proceeds to run through the debris and small flames. He manages to get out of the apartment and into the next lane. "One more block!"

"_I'm picking you up in the radar. Don't show yourself, got it?!"_

* * *

"Heaven's sakes, he's too quick!"

Lancelot dashes out of the battlefield and within a building. He barely missed Dyrroth's tail by a few inches. The knight peeks from a pillar and notices the damage to the roads. Dyrroth's tail broke through a pile of cars and eviscerated them. Lancelot was on the other side of the clash, promptly taking a break.

"Don't wanna go in?"

He looks up to see Tigreal kneeling down to check on him. "No… He is too fast."

"You can't stay here, you know?"

"Yeah… Is Odette alright?"

"She is with the other mages. Time to move."

Lancelot grabs Tigreal's arm and stands up quickly, wiping the blood from his sword with his pants. He hears faint roaring from one side of the street. "Thamuz."

"Like I said, we can't stay here."

Lancelot swiftly jumps up and dashes in between the windows of the buildings. "How about the Writer?"

"We're making the push to obtain the Twilight Orb," Tigreal explains. "Grock is already inside Dimension 73. It's just us now. Let's not make things worse."

"Heh. Demons approaching us. Let me take care of it." Lancelot leaps off of a window and pierces through a Hellhound before sliding on the asphalt, slicing the legs of the others that followed. He spins around and alters his maneuvers, maintaining his unpredictability. The knight then pushes his fencing sword deep within a Ravager's brain before pulling it out.

"Thamuz is here!"

"I know!" Lancelot responds. The hulking fire demon had its eyes set straight to the duo. Thamuz threw his scythes like a barrel and the large weapons spun on the ground like a wheel of death. Tigreal jumps off its trajectory before he could get slashed, and the scythes curve back to Thamuz as the demon leaps, seeking to pounce on Lancelot. He quickly dashes out, managing to cut Thamuz, but the bits of armor that the infernal hellspawn had simply regenerated back, though Thamuz did wince.

"Divided… you are broken!"

"We're not alone!" Lancelot proudly interjects.

Thamuz then charges like a bull, his flaming aura melting the ground and the metal to lava and ash. Suddenly, a silhouette drops right in front of Thamuz before a huge wave of fire pushes Thamuz back, the winds overwhelming it. Surprisingly, the wave extinguishes Thamuz' spread fire off of the streets, the asphalt intact.

"Where is Aurora when you need her?" Valir grumbles. "This is her job!"

"We separate the individuals," Odette reminds, her scepter glowing with energy. "Tigreal, Lance, you need to move and go with Saber."

Tigreal nods as Lancelot lags behind. "Odette, be careful with Thamuz."

"She's under our protection, it will not be in vain," Gord reassures, charging his hands with mystic magic. "Just hurry."

"No kiss good luck?" the knight joked. Quickly, Odette gave Lancelot a peck to the lips.

"That's it for now, sorry… Just go!"

Lancelot nods before running within the blocks as Valir and Gord throws another wave of energy, pushing Thamuz back. The heat forces the knight to cover himself with his arms, worried that he would get burned.

"Tigreal! So, what's the plan?"

"We wait for the signal for the surprise attack," Tigreal says. He points to the ongoing battle. "Silvanna, Argus, Estes, Alucard, Freya, Zhao, Miya… a lot are there, and they're trying to hold Leomord and the others off. Some of the heroes are already in their respective vantage points."

"So, who will get the Orb?"

"Arcturus."

Lancelot's eyes widened. "That's not good."

"It's the only chance we have. Dyrroth still doesn't have any intel regarding the Writer. If he knows about Arcturus, we will have to deal with more threats. Our priority is to get the Twilight Orb and stop the invasion. If we can't make it, the attacks will worsen. This is the last straw."

"I hope he knows that."

Tigreal smirks. "He knows us by heart. I have faith in him."

"A lot of life experience taught me that faith isn't enough," Lancelot reminded.

"But right now, it's what we need."

* * *

"We need to retreat!"

Leomord charges his sword and thrusts into the air, causing a mediating shockwave in a large area before Kaja, but the Nazar slips above and crackles his whip to the ground, sending arcs of lightning to spread throughout the vicinity, pushing Leomord back.

"He is right, we need to prepare for a retaliatory event!" Khufra groaned out, his bandages repairing. He was growing weary from fighting the other heroes. "Dyrroth! We need to move!"

The Prince dashes sideways and claws out at Silvanna, but she sidesteps and twirls, her lance smacking Dyrroth back to the ground instead. Faramis dives in to the rescue, but Gossen appears in a flash, throwing individual daggers to the Ghouls before recalling them back to him, dealing twice the destruction. More and more heroes and mages began to pour in as Dyrroth goes back, barely missing a huge gust of wind, a courtesy of Vale.

"We have you cornered!" Sun began, four of his doppelgangers aiming their staffs at the Abyss. A clone catches sight of Arcturus weaving through the debris, nearing the portal. Sun reoriented the clone's vision at will. "Give up! You will never conquer this Dimension!"

"Last chance, or a bloodbath will emerge and continue on and on… this has to stop!" Odette pleaded, her scepter pulsing with more magic and disorienting the demons' auditory capabilities and sundering it down. "This is not what your sister would want!"

"_Arcturus is nearing the portal!" _SAAI reminds. _"A bit more!"_

"_We heard you," _Johnson responds. _"We're rounding up the rest of the demons!"_

"BUT THIS IS WHAT I WANT!" Dyrroth shouted before his tail began to coil and charge in a frenzied state, dark energy being concentrated.

"_SHIT!" _Saber exclaimed. He drops in at the front and dislodges his swords and forcing them to make a kinetic force field just in time before Dyrroth's tail lashes out, the potential destruction absorbed by the force field. The shield breaks, and the force knocks back the heroes off. The Abyssal demons manage to charge again, but Cyclops and another marksman clears off the field in time before Dyrroth began to lash out again.

"That was too close, Dexter!" Claude said to his animal partner. Dexter squeaked out in nervousness, agreeing with Claude. "Guys, let's just back away for a bit!"

"Dyrroth's power is scaling tremendously… He can't do it without the Twilight Orb's power!" Uranus speculates, his fists burying deep within a Ravager's head. "Estes, what is the objective?"

"Try and stand your ground! Hold the line as it is!"

"But-"

"Arcturus is nearing," the Elven King half-whispered. "Push them too far, and he'll be caught!"

"Don't expend yourself too much," Selena hastily warned as Dyrroth was hyperventilating on one knee. "You still can't control an ounce of the Orb's power, and we need you to win this fight!"

"I am fine, Selena," Dyrroth grunted. "This is the right decision! All of you, push ahead! We're not going down without a fight!"

"_C'mon, Arcturus!" _Alpha mumbled under his breath. _"Dyrroth's shockwave sent him to his knees, but at least the files are protected-"_

The cyborg was interrupted as Terizla strikes the earth again with his large hammer, sending most of the heroes stunned or airborne. Hayabusa halts the charge as he picks off the Abyssal demons with his shadows before kicking Terizla down, causing the executioner to stumble and trip. The ninja manages to get out before Thamuz could leap above him.

"Don't do that again," Hanabi scolded under her mask, pulling Hayabusa out. "I will not risk leaving Kagura alone without you. Don't let your emotions run wild."

"This is part of the job description," Hayabusa responds. "Right, Akai? Um… Akai?"

Behind them, on the rooftop, was the panda, munching on a toasted bun. Akai looked up at them in confusion and got up, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry, I never took a meal last night, okay?! It's so busy tracking them down!"

"Can you hold that down for just one second?!"

"Let him eat," Granger groaned out, grabbing out his guitar case. "Let's make this quick." Suddenly, the open end of the case opened, revealing a large barrel and muzzle on it. A loud clicking sound could be heard as a gun trigger was revealed on Granger's case.

Before Granger pulled, he chanted, _"And may the devils be absolved by the sonata of death."_

_**BOOM!**_

"_Jesus, what was that?"_

"Granger," Arcturus explained. "We're now next to the portal… what next?"

"_Don't touch the anomaly, they might know!"_

"Didn't they say that they won't detect anyone from this Dimension?"

"_All I'm saying is, it's a solid 50/50, high risk, high reward."_

"This ain't Devil Jin's 50/50, so there's no hoping for a comeback from this."

Arcturus stood up slowly as the heroes and villains were drawn to the clash. He outstretches his fingers to try and touch the wormhole. It was like a black mirror, and he couldn't see what was on the other side.

_**BOOM!**_

"_Second shot… he is giving me time."_

"_Duh, come on, just push in!"_

"What are you waiting for, Arcturus?" Granger exhaled. "Is there something wrong with the portal?"

Arcturus closed his eyes as he began to internally panic. He was interested in anomalies, but he would not want to get involved in one. Supposedly, being with the heroes and fighting alongside them seemed like a dream come true.

But that never really was the case.

"_JUST GET IN, YOU FUCKING FAGGOT-"_

"SHUT UP, I'M GOING IN!" Arcturus internally yelled as he charged straight through the wormhole, and he suddenly bounced back, his back (and backpack) hitting a concrete wall. He was stunned.

"Wait, what?"

"_Something is not right!"_

"The wormhole is repelling fast entry!" Alpha explained to Saber. "Oh, no…"

"_Arcturus!" _Saber calls out through SAAI. _"You need to enter the wormhole slowly. The material is like oobleck water!"_

"That's bullshit!" Arcturus cried out, his cursing drowned out by the noise. "That's utter bullshit!" He forcibly gets in the wormhole, but all that the anomaly could do was swallow him very slowly, like vertical quicksand. "Faster!"

"_You need to try again… Oh, no!"_

"Who goes there?!" a voice called out. Faramis looked behind the fight and made eye contact with Arcturus from afar. "What do you intend to do?!"

"_Saber, give me some time…"_

"_Arc-"_

"_I SAID GIVE ME MORE FUCKING TIME!"_

_**BOOM!**_

"That was the last shot, we must protect Arcturus!" Granger warned Hayabusa, Hanabi, and Akai. "Go! I will drop down and help in the field!"

"_The others know-"_

"_DON'T TELL ME THAT SHIT AND HELP ME!"_

"Stop right there!" Leomord commanded with trembling force. "This is your only warning!"

"What is wrong?!" Dyrroth exclaimed.

"Someone seeks to enter through the wormhole!"

"_I'm setting up the static shield! Just make it in there alive, forget the laptop and the bag!"_

Arcturus looks behind him and sees a large chunk of ice falling straight through the Abyssal fighters. Aurora was perched on a rooftop, sending waves of ice and hail to slow them down. Saber set up an electrified static shield with his swords, pulsing yellow, repelling energy.

"_Just hold on, we will push through!"_

"Kill the intruder!" Thamuz roared. Suddenly, a couple of stray Abyss demons from the other side of the street began to clamor around and charge towards Arcturus. Some of the heroes hovered past the wormhole and blocked the way, giving him more time.

"HURRY!" Alucard shouts, but Arcturus' body is still halfway in the wormhole. His right leg is submerged to the other side completely, but he could not feel any sort of floor or ground he could step on. Arcturus had to duck as Faramis pointed his staff and shot an arcane blast. Natalia appears from behind the rubble and grabs at Faramis in a sleeper hold.

"_A BIT MORE, ARC!"_

"COME ON, GODDAMNIT!" Arcturus grunts. He slams his face to the wormhole and pushes himself in the anomaly by force. He could hear Dyrroth already sprinting after him, but Chou darts in between and kicks him back to a building. The latter notices Arcturus' position and latches onto his back, pushing alongside.

"ALMOST THERE, BUD, GO!"

Arcturus managed to get to the other side as the battle behind him intensified. He rubbed his eyes and fell on all fours, catching his breath.

"How tight was that wormhole?!"

"_Faramis was trying to restrict your entry, but as soon as you touched the portal, all they would have been able to do was to try and pull you out with brute force. If you're wondering, my radar's dark. Can't hear anyone."_

"Saber didn't mention anything about the other side?" Arcturus pulls himself up and wipes the dirt from his jacket. He checks the contents of his bag. Miraculously, none of his belongings were damaged.

"_No."_

He looks up. He could see nothing. It was pure blackness all around, but Arcturus was not surprised. He did expect that something would be off about the other side, and that he could be misled.

"No turning back?"

"_Turn around, and the wormhole ain't there."_

"Great, so we're stuck here."

"_Not really. Sensors are picking up an immense power spike in your 12, but there's a shit ton of interference and I can't get a latch."_

Arcturus squinted into the black, but he could not see anything. "You sure?"

"_Probs the power source of the wormhole?"_

"Or the Twilight Orb?"

"_Or maybe both?" _SAAI asked. _"We can't identify the-"_

"It's both," Arcturus concluded. He began to walk forward. "How long have we been here?"

"_You fear the idea of relativity?"_

"Ever watched the movie, _Interstellar? _'One hour here-'"

"_Is seven years on Earth, yes, I know that line-"_

"But what if an hour here is a second back out there?" Arcturus hypothesizes. He begins to sprint.

"_Don't panic-"_

"I'm not. I just want to end this shit. I don't know how much time we are wasting here. Are the readings getting clearer?"

"_Still the same amount of static, but you're growing close. Be careful, a lot of prominences are beginning to swivel around us, and you're within range."_

"But I don't feel anything…"

As soon as he said it, Arcturus felt a deep chill run through his spine, stopping him in his tracks. The cold surged through his veins, and he had to completely stay still.

"What was that?"

"_That was an energy arc passing through. Are you alright? Your vitals still seem fine and all…"_

"Just report to me anything that is either trivial or unnatural. We haven't had this documented before, right?"

Arcturus looks down and checks his watch, but the hands were not moving. The digital display was turned off. He pressed the light button, and a sunken gray hue lit the screen.

"The technology is devoid of color… but I'm still colored, right?" He checked his hand, but could not find anything off. Suddenly, his vision flickers, revealing a blinding flash frame of a different perspective.

"_This place is messing your head!"_

"This place isn't driving me insane, SAAI… The place itself _is _insane! The farther we go, the more distortions we will face…"

Arcturus looked back up again and could notice a faint, white dot from a far distance. It was slowly pulsing with a bright aura, somewhat suspended in mid-air. "SAAI?"

"_I see it."_

"Energy levels?"

"_Unreadable… but spiking."_

"Best guess?"

"_Twilight Orb," _SAAI sighed out. _"I'm picking up several individual signatures surrounding the whole perimeter. The nearest one to you is a meter from your 2:20."_

"Pull up the HUD and give me the sensor readings. Are the signatures hostile?"

"_No, not really, but… they're shaped like… like… people?"_

"Just pull up the display, let me see what it is."

SAAI releases a light-blue HUD display, revealing a radar. Arcturus identifies them being in the center. As the radar sweeps, numerous blips appear as the line rotates. The AI releases another display, showing a live feed with an energy reader's filter. Dozens of faint silhouettes appeared, just near Arcturus, but the more discernible of the bunch were far away. Some of the silhouettes were adrift, while others were mobile, moving frantically and phasing.

"_Specters?"_

"How can a Twilight Orb possess this? I don't understand…"

"_These souls are somewhat linked to a central source or host…"_

"Like Hanzo and Hanekage."

"_No," _SAAI interrupts. _"Hanzo and his spirit can move freely, but these specters are locked down. They're like, imprisoned or something. These are legit souls, Arcturus. You don't need an Ouija board to know that. Maybe one of them passed through you, hence the chill._

"Probably- Wait, did you hear that?" Arcturus' ears perked up as soft whispers began filling his mind. "They're talking."

"_You're not getting possessed, it's their own level of reality mixing up with ours, since you're from a different existential plane. You're beginning to interact, but your body won't do much. You cannot respond back."_

"I'd like to hear them, maybe… But the Orb first. I can already see it." Arcturus' eyes hovered to the HUD as he walked. It was still pitch black, but he was less than ten meters from the Orb. He could feel waves of energy rippling through his body as he pushed on. Arcturus notices a spirit crouched down, hugging its knees in a fetal position.

"_What are you doing?"_

"I need to know. They can't hurt me." Arcturus slowly puts his hand on the knee of the spirit, and the silhouette pulsed white energy, like a power surge. He places his hand and the silhouette could be visible, taking up the body of a familiar face.

"_Holy shit…"_

"I know," Arcturus began, but he could hardly believe it. "It's them."

"_But how are the heroes-"_

"We're more or less trailing in the same time as them, SAAI. These souls are from somewhere else… Dimension 53?"

"_You're not considering the idea that Dyrroth and the others have imprisoned them within the Twilight Orb, are you?"_

"I doubt even Faramis knew about this… Fuck, they're more than I can fathom."

Arcturus was right. As soon as he touched one of the specters, dozens more appeared, pulsing with the same white energy. He could recognize the silhouettes of Bane, Zhask, Natalia, Gord, and more. It seemed endless, and there were even some apparitions he cannot even discern. He knew that he was in the Dimension they sought to arrive at, but technically…

"I get it know… Faramis tried shutting us off and it put us here. The complications of the shutdown… we're in Dimension 53, but in a different reality… a different perspective?"

"_You cannot feel anything physical, can you?"_

"No… Can't even touch a freaking wall, only my feet touch the floor. But these spirits, they can phase around everywhere because they have been locked down in this plane ever since. I don't know how, but they might have perished during the war."

"_You're not moving like them because you belong in a different plane, and you're not tethered by the Twilight Orb."_

"SAAI, if we get the Orb, what happens to them?"

Arcturus finally approaches the light sphere. Its energy was blinding, so he had to squint. He could feel the whole area growing even colder.

"_They're trying to grab you."_

"I know, they're trying to kill me. They don't want me to touch the thing."

"_Or maybe they do want you to get it."_

"Then… how did they get here?" He itched his head as his fingers close in to grab the Orb. "Screw it. I'm yanking it out." Arcturus closes his eyes and nears.

As soon as his fingers were millimeters away, the HUD displays immediately glare with a deep red color, signifying a massive warning.

"_WAIT-"_

"SAAI?" Arcturus' glasses glitched out with static as the link with SAAI cuts off. The pulsing figures immediately black out, and Arcturus was alone in the dark. He could not even see his own fingers.

"SAAI? You there? Hey!"

He looks for his watch and tries to activate the light, but it doesn't work. The HUD displays have already died down as well. Arcturus was going to be walking blind in the dark, nothing and no one in sight.

"The air isn't growing colder…"

"_Who are you?"_

Arcturus' heart skipped a beat. He inhaled slowly. "I'm fucked, aren't I?"

He closed his eyes and raised his hands to shoulder level, turning around. He opened his eyes in fear and saw no one. "What…? This is not a dream, is it?"

"_You cannot see me. Who are you?"_

"I'm supposed to be the one asking that question."

"_But it was your choice to be here."_

"Goddamnit, I did not have a choice! Ever!" Arcturus exclaimed, nearly stomping the ground. "Do you understand that? I just need the Orb, that's it."

Arcturus turns around again and finally sees the speaker standing a few feet away from him. Her silhouette was just like the others: spectral, pulsing, and ethereal… but he recognized the figure. It was all too obvious.

"_You had a choice," _Lunox began. _"To run away or to fight alongside them."_

"How do you know that?!"

"_The Orb is corrupted… its power was tampered by Faramis in order to strengthen Dyrroth and his accomplices. It powers the dimensional anomaly as we speak, and I can feel… I can feel… it all…" _As Lunox's speech began to drift, her silhouette began to glitch out uncontrollably for a few seconds before remaining stable. _"But I do not know who you are."_

"How do I stop the wormhole?"

"_You can't stop it. You will risk killing yourself. If you do manage to live, you could get stuck here!"_

Arcturus realized something as soon as he heard those lines. This wasn't the Lunox from Dimension 73. It was the one from Dimension 53… the Dimension that lost. She is imprisoned alongside the other heroes and enemies, and all of them seem lost and confused. If anything, Lunox would be the only sane entity, and she was reluctant to let him stop the portal by himself.

"Lunox… the others-"

"_They lost themselves… they drift, but the Orb shackles them. I watch over, and they do not follow. They cry out, choking on their own tears and filled with rage… Many, if not all, were abused and torn by Dyrroth and his allies. I could not see it coming…"_

"It's different… you lost the Old War, and the heroes of the New War-"

"_Were born to fight a war they could never win alone. Arcturus, you don't have to do this."_

"I have to," Arcturus pushed. "I'm not going to leave all of you like this."

"_If you get back-"_

"It doesn't matter! I don't want to be held responsible for more damage. Show me where the Orb is!" he shouted. "I'm going to help the other heroes out there. It doesn't matter if you don't know me. It doesn't matter if the dead won't cooperate. I'm going to do it!"

He briskly walked past Lunox's specter and outstretched his arms. She turns toward him and phases through his body, sending a deep chill stronger than the other apparitions. Arcturus immediately crumbles to his knees and palms, trying to shake it off.

"_Touch the Orb, and they will ravage you. They will eviscerate your soul from the inside. It is already in an unstable state, and not even Estes nor the other mages can stabilize it."_

"I understand."

"_But you are not one of them… are you?"_

Arcturus turned around, fully recovering from the cold shock. "No."

"_Then… at the very least, tell me your name."_

He was hesitant. Arcturus doesn't even know if this figure of Lunox is even real. It could be an illusion. Maybe Faramis and the other Abyssal heroes have already won, and they were tricking him to give out his credentials. Maybe the heroes have won, and maybe the conversation was real. Maybe he was already dead as soon as he reached the portal.

But what did Arcturus have to lose? Nothing. It was either now or never.

"Arcturus… Arcturus420, my Extraneous Identity."

"_Not your real name… But I have faith that you know what you are doing."_

"I won't let you down."

Lunox weakly grinned before fading. _"I'm sure of it."_

Suddenly, the black veil falls away and deteriorates, sending Arcturus into the physical existential plane. He could clearly see the surroundings that he was in, and the whole atmosphere suddenly felt dry and hot. The landscape of Dimension 53 appeared.

Arcturus had thoughts of hell. Probably a place filled with lava and magma, with demons and winged devils roaming around, punishing the wicked. He imagined it like the Nine Circles of Hell from Dante Alighieri, but he didn't think that Dimension 53 would be a bit more… Lovecraftian.

"_ARC, YOU THERE?!"_

"SAAI, thank goodness… I thought I lost you there for a second."

"_I'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU FOR THREE HOURS!"_

"Wait, what?!"

"_We need to get the Orb while no demons are around. The whole area is barren, so we must move."_

Arcturus looked around. The ground was irreparably dry and dark, with black corruption matting certain spots on the ground like an infestation. A few meters in front of Arcturus was a pedestal fashioned from the corruption, and atop it floated the shining Twilight Orb. He could not see the case that contained the energy, but he was sure that this was it. He was already out of the ethereal plane.

"_What happened back there?! Give me a good answer!"_

"Lunox talked to me… she tried to stop me from reaching the thing. She warned me that the spirits were going to kill me if I did."

"_Don't they want to be free?"_

"This Lunox was different. She looked so worried, so concerned. She did not seem too sure… I made a promise that I will stop the fight. I'm going to get that thing now."

Arcturus approached slowly, preparing his nerves for a possible trap that could catch them off-guard. But SAAI was updating the topographical records as lightning began to spark from crimson skies. Nothing was there at all. Dyrroth may have most likely put in all their efforts to terrorize Dimension 1.

As he was inches away from grabbing it, Arcturus looked behind him one last time. No portal, no lifesaver, nothing.

"Let's go."

He grabbed the Orb with his gloved hands and shut his eyes.

* * *

_**KRAAAAAAAAKOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

"HOLY SH-"

Chou exclaimed before getting his whole body flung by an immense force wave coming from the wormhole. His back hit a concrete pillar so badly as he skidded to the asphalt, numerous scrapes hurting his body.

"Did he… get in?" he asked, trying to get up.

"Chou!" a voice called out. Fanny flew and U-turned, landing on her feet to help Chou. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I can walk… Did he-"

"He just got in, and now, the portal is gone!"

Chou's eyes widened. "So, he's stuck there?"

"The smoke is clearing, we can't say for sure. The enemy is knocked out, the whole wave blew out the whole city. It's a mess out here."

"Are the o-others alright?"

Fanny nods, before anchoring herself to a wall. She squints her eyes to see the aftermath of the explosion. The dust literally got swept by the gales like a sandstorm, and dozens of glass windows are completely shattered. The missing portal left a deep scorch mark on the ground, emitting white smoke. To her disbelief, Fanny saw an unconscious figure lying down on his stomach a few feet from the scorch mark, right next to the dazed Terizla.

"He's still alive!"

"I'll retrieve him!" Argus volunteers, rising from a pile of rubble and shaking his wings. "Estes, heal the wounded heroes and recover our formation. Arcturus is still alive."

Estes was just finished bringing down the crystal bubble around him that protected him from the blast. "Watch out. He's close to Terizla. I will make our path home."

Argus then zips through the debris and grabs Arcturus with both of his arms. The latter immediately shakes his head and wakes up, feeling dizzy.

"Arcturus!" Argus gasped. "You're alright."

"Argh…" Arcturus put his hand on his bleeding forehead. "Oh, shit… I have a concussion…"

"Hold on, I will put you down- Wait…"

As Argus finds a rooftop, he hovers and lands down, his wings blowing away the dust before he puts Arcturus down. However, he backs away, seemingly alarmed.

"Argus… W-What… happened?"

"Arc… try not to move."

"SAAI is still inactive, he's kinda… busted up from-"

"DON'T… Don't move."

Arcturus squinted, clearing his vision. Argus was already outstretching his arms and wings, motioning Arcturus away as his sword was already airborne, pointed straight at the latter. "Argus, what's wrong?"

"I can feel it, but you don't…"

"What's wrong with me?"

"_Arc? A-Are you there?"_

"SAAI, you okay?!" Arcturus exclaims. "Is there anything new?"

"_My systems are off, let me reboot awhile and get some data going. So far, your stuff is… miraculously intact, that's all I know for sure."_

In response, Arcturus reached for his back and removed his backpack. He unzipped it only to find his belongings and his laptop unharmed from the explosion.

"Arcturus… you don't know how long you've been to Dimension 53, am I correct?"

"Why, what's the matter?"

Argus steps forward and grabs Caelesti Igni by the handle. "Tell me, how long do you think you've been in there?"

Arcturus shakes his head and checks the tally. "The whole… time bullshit tells me that I've been in there for around 15 minutes or so… equivalent to… 3 hours here?"

"But that's not even how D1 and D53's ratio works. It's meant to be that much farther. The current ratio may be 12 minutes here for every minute there… But in here, you've gone in and out for only 5 seconds, and I think-"

"What?!" Arcturus asked, baffled. "Five seconds?"

"And I noticed that it's not the portal's work or anything… Wait, is the Twilight Orb with you?"

"I had to grab it, that was my only option, and it's not here!" Arcturus began. "Lunox-"

"_Arc, you've got Saber and a few others coming towards you. They're pulling you out-"_

"Not yet! Not yet, okay?"

"_Why?"_

"Arcturus, you're not feeling any different?" Argus asked again. "Aside from the concussion?"

"No, why do you keep asking that?"

Before Argus could stifle up an answer, Saber already lands with his metal feet crunching the concrete. Ruby, covered in soot, dislodged from the cyborg's back.

"You smell scary," Ruby blurted out. "And no, I'm being sane right now, and I'm serious. He smells scary." She points towards Arcturus.

"How can fear have a scent?" Arcturus questions, confused. "I don't-"

"Where's the Orb? Please tell me that you have destroyed it, at the very least," Saber interrogates to Arcturus. "Dyrroth cannot possess it-"

"Once I managed to get ahold of it, it was gone without a trace, and I ended up back here. Trust me, I don't know anything else!"

"Then why is its energy radiating off of you?!"

Arcturus froze. Panicking, he forced up the HUDs again and checked his physiology, but found nothing. "Don't joke-"

"I'm not. Your sensors don't have the capability to detect the Orb's power, but I do… and it's not looking good on your side."

"How can I-"

Saber ejects a holographic display, scanning Arcturus like an MRI. A blinding outline was around Arcturus, like the glow of a star. However, the readings on his physique are stable.

"Did you touch the Orb?"

"With gloved hands, kinetoglyphs, runes, all for protection," Arcturus answered quickly. "I swear, I touched it, and I'm back here."

"Shit," Saber mumbled. "If that's the case, then we'll have to pull you out of Manila and-"

A deafening explosion from the epicenter of the blast sends tons of debris flying, and the other heroes reacted by covering themselves behind cars and pillars of rubble. Arcturus peers from the rooftop, noticing Faramis' force field protecting the other Abyssal foes. Most of the demons have already dispersed, scattered, or died.

"Where is the human?" Dyrroth asked, coughing from the smoke. "He is our new target! He has gone ahold of the Orb!"

"_Shit, Arc, run!" _SAAI yelled. _"They'll know where you are!"_

Argus looked back at Arcturus as soon as the latter locked eyes with Thamuz from far away. "Arcturus, Estes will helps us recall-"

"Argus, they just looked at us!" Ruby warned, pulling up her hood. "Let's get out of here!"

"_I think they already know, SAAI…"_

With barely a couple of seconds elapsing, the roof was bombarded by concrete shrapnel, courtesy of Khufra's hurling of boulders. Some of the debris immediately set ablaze due to the multiple gas leaks spreading through the area.

"We've run out of options, the only thing we have left is to pull you out!" Saber yells. "You retreat, and we'll try to hold Faramis and the others off for you!"

Arcturus stops in his tracks as he sees blotches of black spots peppering the sky. His eyes widened with panic. "Uh… guys?"

"What?!" Argus asked, before setting his eyes to what was above. "Arcturus, you run through the ground, and we'll prepare for you recall. Saber, you deal with the airborne demons instead. I will handle Faramis!"

"You heard Argus!" Saber reminds before blasting off to the air, unsheathing his blades. _"Everybody, new plan. It's a hypothetical all-or-nothing. Prevent the enemies from reaching Arcturus. Looks like he just opened Pandora's Box… and it doesn't look good."_

"What do you mean, Pandora's Box?!" Arcturus interrogates, sweeping through the floors of the infrastructure. He manages to find a dusty shotgun on the floor with a full chamber. "As far as I know-"

"NO! As far as I'm concerned, you're a ticking time bomb! The clearest reason we got is that you just got the whole Twilight Orb energy inside your bloodstream, and you are just recovering from the shock! If we don't get you to a nearby med bay, then we can no longer stabilize your condition properly!"

"Don't give me that shit, Saber!" Arcturus grunts as he squeezes through the debris and begins to run along the devastation left by the war. Some of the Spitfires caught him in their vision and began to dive down, but some of the mages have begun to respond against them.

"I feel something different…" Odette began, fearing the worst. "Arcturus, just go ahead!"

The latter looks behind him and notices that some of the heroes have begun to recover, trying to push away the Abyssal demons as well as their leaders. "SAAI, status report!"

"_What?"_

"SAAI?" Arcturus asked. "Can you hear me?"

"_Arc, I'm losing control of the systems, my own grid is blacking out! I don't know what's happening!"_

"SAAI, I can hear you perfectly! Is something wrong?"

"_WhAt d1d Y08ed sa126?! 76723 Wr782tches h492ading y083 w828828y!)()()# "_

"SAAI?!" Arcturus pulls up the HUDs again, and all of them possessed blank screens with the words 'System Offline'. "Oh, shit."

Saber hovers beside him, looking around the streets. "There are more and more Wretches converging towards your location… It's like a hive mind, they're all just focused on you. We need to get you out!"

"We can't get out without Estes and the others, no one is going to die today!" Arcturus exclaims. He catches sight of a rabid herd of Wretches stampeding through the buildings and the debris. Saber immediately embraces Arcturus and bursts through the sky, his automated swords fending away the Spitfires and Wombats seeking to claw at them.

"If you die, we all die, do you know that?!" Saber shouts, grunting as he ejects more swords. Arcturus could hear the sound of oozing blood and burnt flesh as Gusion and Valir went airborne, picking off the remaining demons chasing Saber. "If you won't live 'til the end, we can't get revived again!"

"What the fuck do you mean?!" Arcturus asked, trying to reconnect to SAAI. "What do you mean, 'revive'?"

"Ideas are bulletproof, Arcturus! Can you put four and four together?!" the cyborg pleaded. Before Arcturus could respond, a projectile from Faramis' staff damages Saber's flight gear, causing the two to crash into the ground in another street. Arcturus could feel his bones crack and dislocate as he coughed and wheezed from the pain.

"Fucking… Christ… Saber... Where are you?" he moaned. He began getting up again before realizing something else. "Wait a minute… what?"

He examined his arms. He swore he heard them rip into two pieces, but they were intact. Arcturus panicked as he checked his legs and face. His injuries were not there, and not a single scratch was on his skin. "Got to be shitting me-"

"Hey, just run! Leomord is after you!" someone cried out. "Just go!"

"Pharsa?" Arcturus asked. "My GPS is screwed, there's too many demons here. I don't even know what's happening to the other countries-"

He looks up and sees a feral Abyssal spirit with its jaws open, latching onto his leg. Arcturus yelps before instinctively grabbing a pipe to whack it to the asphalt. His leg bled out in several points before immediately healing, the pain alleviated. He sees Selena, Terizla, and Leomord running straight towards him, the minor demons forcing preoccupation to the other demons.

"_You won't last long."_

"What… who said that?!" Arcturus asked before turning his back to the demons chasing him. "L-Lunox?!"

"_I gave you my warning… I can't stop it now. I'm losing… my control… over them…"_

"Lunox, what's wrong?!"

"_Your body… will be… torn apart… I'm terribly sorry…"_

"Lunox… LUNOX!" Arcturus shouts, trying to contact her voice again. He barely misses the jaws of a Ravager as he sidesteps. "Wait a minute… who was she referring to-"

"_GET ME OUT! LET US OUT!"_

"FUCK!" Arcturus moaned out, a sudden wave of auditory hallucinations attacking his brain. He could feel his whole body burn inside out, but when he touched his own skin, it was freezing cold. "N-No! Not like this…"

"ARCTURUS!" Estes called out. "What's wrong?!"

"I could feel its power… we need to stay back!" Uranus warned. "It could blow any second!"

"I'm not letting him get taken by Dyrroth!" Silvanna rejects, leaping into action in front of Arcturus and swings her spear into a wave, casting a wave of bright light before striking Faramis away. Khufra leaps from behind, and Silvanna dodges by sidestepping. She dashes out and grabs Arcturus by the arm.

"_WHO ARE YOU?! DON'T HURT US! LET US OUT!"_

"Silvanna… p-p-please… s-s-s-stay away, you'll d-d-die…" Arcturus bawls, the pain overwhelming his senses. The shouting from inside his head grew louder, and his thick clothes began to char from the edges. "It hurts… really, really… bad…"

"Stay strong for me, stay strong!" Silvanna urges. Unfortunately, Dyrroth manages to climb onto her and slashes onto her back. Silvanna winces before spinning around with her spear casting a static dome that protects her and Arcturus from the enemy's attacks.

"Let her go, Silvanna, and spare your life!" Leomord commands. Terizla smashes the earth behind him, forcing the other responding heroes to veer away from the blast.

"Silvanna!" Kaja exclaimed. "We need to get her out!"

"We're trying, but they're closing us off!" Eudora explains. "Faramis is casting a field against us, it won't let us get to Silvanna!"

"_LET US GO! YOU'RE HURTING ME, LET US GO!"_

"Silvanna… I can't…" Arcturus wheezed, his arms and legs going brittle. "Something's killing me from inside…"

He looks behind him as he laid down on the asphalt. A huge rumble began to emanate from the wave of demons behind him. Arcturus sees a spiked disc rolling through the ground, shredding and incinerating the Hellhounds.

"Silvanna, let me get the boy!" Baxia volunteered, reverting back to his normal state. "Estes will take away the field."

As soon as a hole began to form on Faramis' green force field, Karina quickly dives in and slashes at any of the enemies on sight, abruptly diminishing the force field.

"Now's our chance!" Karina muttered. Alucard channels the energy of his greatsword, setting it ablaze before teleporting straight to Dyrroth. The hunter launches a blazing fission wave, sending most of the demons away. "Baxia, go! I'll handle Dyrroth alongside Silvanna!"

Baxia grabs Arcturus' near-lifeless body and rolls, protecting him inside. Johnson arrives, bursting through the ruins of another building with Claude on the roof. "How bad is it?"

"I will need to drop him soon-"

Without warning, a Wretch bursts from the side of a building, causing Baxia to crash into Johnson. The four individuals flung to the road, Baxia letting go of Arcturus. His body rolls around to the field without any support.

"_LET US OUT! YOU WILL NOT CONTROL US! YOU WILL LET US OUT!"_

"U-Urk… n-no…" Arcturus mumbled, coughing up blood. Foreign memories began to surface within his head, flooding his mind with scenes of violence and cruelty. "P-Please…"

"_Arcturus… this tremendous power comes with a cost you cannot pay."_

"Lunox…"

"_Are you willing to control the Twilight Orb's power?"_

"I can't… do… this… It h-h-hurts…"

"ARCTURUS!" Hayabusa dashes in, but meets Hanekage mid-air. "Hanzo!"

"The Shadow of Iga… I've killed you once, and I shall take your blood again!" Hanzo cackled, charging with insane speed. Hayabusa disappears through another shadow and tries to reach out for Arcturus, but Leomord kicks him as soon as he materialized, stopping the assassin.

"They've been too eager to sacrifice their lives for you… Writer."

"_This is your last chance, Arcturus. This is the only way… This is how we can win," _Lunox whispered in his head, devoid of optimism.

Arcturus could only nod out of desperation on his mind as Leomord grabs him by the neck. He tries to break free from the hold when he remembered something.

"_Whatever happens… do not blame yourself. You have done too many good things for this world."_

"V-Vestral…"

"_You're hiding right now… but one day, when this is all over… we'll meet again."_

"W-Wait…"

"_Don't die on me. You owe me a goddamn promise!"_

"It is over… Arcturus. There is no more hope." Leomord decides to thrust Oath Keeper within Arcturus' gut… But it didn't pierce through.

Arcturus' eyes began to bleed as he screamed in pain, his body beginning to flare again. He could feel something protruding from his shoulerblades and his limbs, like he was being branded with molten iron from all sides. His arms began to crack, exposing yellow and dark matter from his forearms and fingertips. A loud hum began to emanate, slowly turning into a high-pitched screech.

"This cannot be…" Leomord quickly tried stabbing him again, forcing a puncture, but Arcturus' body was as tough as rock. "The Orb's energy…"

"Shit, we need to stay clear!" Lolita warns everyone, but no one could hear her from the fighting. "GUYS, STAY DOWN!"

"I m-made… a promise…" Arcturus choked out, his mask and glasses incinerating. His skin began to set ablaze with white energy, and his hands began to crush through Leomord's greaves. "I… p-p-promised…"

"_KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM ALL! MAKE THEM ALL PAY!"_

Ruby covered her ears as she could also hear the voices within Arcturus' mind. Chou began to take cover within Ruby's spot to dodge Terizla's hammer. "Ruby, are you alright?"

"The voices… in Arcturus' head, it's too violent… HE'S GONNA BURST!"

"_YOU WILL KILL THEM ALL! YOU WILL AVENGE OUR SUFFERING!"_

"ESTES!" Argus called out, noticing what was happening. The screech grew louder, shattering the remaining panes of glass on the infrastructure.

"I promised… I PROMISED!"

Leomord looked at his face, and Arcturus' eyes were replaced by a pair of white energy. "What in-"

"AND I WILL FUCKING KEEP IT!" Arcturus yelled before the aura around him swallowed his figure.

After pummeling a Wretch's face, Gatotkaca looked to his right and saw what was happening. "Granger…"

The hunter turned his head, and his eyes widened. "Well… Now ain't that something-"

* * *

_**[SYSTEM ERROR]**_

_**[SYSTEM ERROR]**_

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_**[SYSTEM ERROR]**_

_**Initializing Automated Reboot…**_

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_**Reboot Accomplished. DATA RESTORED.**_

_**Resuming Playback…**_

An ear-piercing explosion ensued, with Arcturus at the epicenter. All of the surrounding debris and infrastructure began to disintegrate from the immense power. The other heroes managed to protect themselves in time before the blast caught up with them.

"ARGH!" Alpha grunted as he flew out of the blast a little too late, his armor charred in the process. "What in the hell…"

He could only see a large dome of white and black causing a catastrophic aftermath within a one-kilometer radius, as if a small sun engulfed a chunk of the earth momentarily before disappearing. Belches of pitch-black smoke and ashes coated the sky as many of the demons died in the blast zone.

Leomord was twenty meters away from his last position, his armor and skin burned off. He barely got up as his skin and armor began to regenerate. The knight recalled Oath Keeper and Barbiel, seeking to escape. The steed neighed in worry, growing anxious.

"Dyrroth, we need to get out!"

The Prince popped out from a huge fog of smoke, coughing tremendously. Several blisters were on his skin before they were healed. "Is he dead?"

Leomord couldn't respond properly. He was still stunned by the explosion. "Dead or alive, we need to leave."

"Many of the heroes have been killed, Leomord! This is our chance at winning!"

"We may have taken tremendous losses as well, we cannot risk engaging if we do not know our threat," Leomord retorts. "You are our priority, we must retreat." In the corner of the knight's eyes, Faramis appeared, terribly wounded. Deep gashes were visible on his body, and they healed slower.

"All of us are intact, but we must go, Dyrroth," Faramis spoke. "We are not in stable shape anymore. If any one of us dies at this instant-"

"Do not chicken out on me, Faramis!" Dyrroth growls, shoving the alchemist. "I've spent too long trying to win this war, so let me do the honors of ending it right now!"

Hanzo appears amidst the confusion, Ame No Habakiri's power ebbing. "Hanekage has grown weary. Faramis is right, Prince. Not even Yu Zhong would agree with another engagement."

"If so, then we must leave some of our demons to clean up the mess," Selena suggests. "I believe we have spread our message clearly."

"Selena, have you caught wind of the other heroes?" Terizla asked, brushing off dust from his hammer. "One of them has escaped."

"If it is true that they are dead, then there would be no point chasing survivors, for we can just leave them to die!" Khufra snarled, his mouth foaming. "Our time will come, Dyrroth, and we must learn to be patient."

* * *

"Beta?" Alpha asked, stunned. "C-Casualties?"

A red HUD popped up from within his visor, displaying the names of the heroes that have perished from within the blast. "Oh, no… That's bad."

"_Natalia, , Odette, Hanabi, Johnson, Harith, Ling…"_

Alpha sighed. "You don't need to dictate-"

"_Alert: Casualty Count Dropping. 75… 74…"_

"Wait, hold on, what did you say?!"

"_67… 63… 53…" _Beta began, counting down from around 80. She did not stop counting down. _"Recovered: Cyclops, Harley, Bruno, Wanwan, Claude…"_

Alpha warily adjusted his visor in order to see through the aftermath. The Abyssal foes still stood complete, though not unscathed. They were staring at what was in front of them in awe. The demons began to crowd near the epicenter, not minding outside intervention from local police and the military within the Philippines.

"No… way…"

"Dyrroth… We need to retreat!" Thamuz growled, spinning his scythes as bits of ash and dust began to coalesce into different locations, forming silhouettes. "Where is Luo Yi?"

"She has not expected this calamity, but she will be managing our escape soon," Terizla responds, lifting up his hammer. "We will have to stand ground."

The Prince sharpened his claws and whipped his tail to the ground. "They are returning, aren't they?! What about the Writer?!"

In front of them, a silhouette began to form shape as more clumps of ash and soot merged together, reassembling pieces of organs and the skin. The gray and black matter started to take color and coherence, and Nana's body began to reform. Her mouth was agape, as if she disintegrated just as she reacted to the fiery explosion that once ensued. Time began to reverse around her, distorting her voice before returning to normal.

"WHA?! Wait… Um… what?"

Nana looks to her left and sees the Abyssal enemies staring at her, shocked. She lifts up her boomerang and channels her energy, preparing for a fight. "Cyclops, they're by me!"

"Nana?" Cyclops' voice echoed. "What's happening? Cyclops does not understand…"

"Their previous states are being reversed!" Faramis blurted out, confused. "This cannot be possible, unless…"

"The Writer has the Twilight Orb!" Dyrroth yelled out, trying to race through the debris to stop the environmental reconfiguration. "He's bringing back all of our enemies, we must eradicate him!"

Leomord is fixated on the pulsing dome at the center of the field of activity. The light began to grow stronger, but the pulsing began to ebb. Sun, Yun Zhao, Johnson and many more heroes began to appear from dust, trying to get a grip of their senses.

"Vale…" Lapu-Lapu spoke, looking at his arms. His greatsword reformed on the pile of debris beside him. "How are we…"

"The Writer! Protect Arcturus!" a voice cried out from the sky. Alpha urged Beta to go faster as the drone spread a bombardment of bullets towards Dyrroth, attempting to prevent the Prince from reaching the epicenter of the energy surge. "Do not let him get near!"

Dyrroth slid below Minotaur's legs and dodged Lesley's shots. "How could that accursed imbecile think he could fuck with me?! ONLY I CAN HARNESS THE POWER OF THE ORB, NO ONE ELSE CAN!"

He began to sprint on all fours, gaining more distance, until a hero shoved him to the side, forcing Dyrroth to a wall. Silvanna kicked him back to the wall, pointing at Dyrroth with her reforming spear. "You won't pass through!"

"And you won't succeed!" Dyrroth shoved Silvanna, slicing her cheek with his circular razors before managing to break free. He was only a couple of meters left from the epicenter as the pulsing grew smaller and smaller, Arcturus' silhouette becoming visible. Suddenly, the high-pitched screech began to return.

"Dyrroth!" Hanzo shouted, trying to fend off Hanabi. "Go! NOW!" Hanabi throws her Higanbana at Hanzo and traps him and Hanekage in a mystical net. The phantom tries to break free, but the net prevents it from escaping, forcing Hanzo to shred the net with his sword.

"Estes, Dyrroth is closing in on Arcturus!" Clint reminds, loading more bullets into his rifle as he kept firing at the Prince. He chucks random shrapnel grenades at the path, giving Arcturus more time. "Come on, why won't this bastard trip for once?!"

The high-pitched screeching grew louder, and screaming began to echo from the epicenter of the energy surge. All of the heroes have already been revived and trying to prevent more demons from getting closer. Dyrroth leaps from a pile of debris and angles himself toward the energy surge, Arcturus' body in clear sight. He charges up his Abyssal power through his tail and reveals his claws before seeking to shred the latter to bits. "I GOT YOU NOW!"

As soon as he made contact, something gripped his face with such pressure, as if it was being put in a vise. Dyrroth grunted from the pain as the grip almost began crushing his skull. His eyes saw Arcturus looking at him directly, his eyes completely purple.

"How… c-c-could… you...?" Arcturus began to speak, but his mouth wasn't moving. "You… You…"

Dyrroth sensed the ferocity surging from Arcturus' voice, almost as if he was being possessed. "Let me go!"

"You… YOU KILLED THEM ALL!"

"W-What?"

Before Dyrroth could even reminisce, Arcturus immediately chucked him back to the edge of the battlefield with his right arm, bits of concrete and steel slamming onto Dyrroth's skin. The Prince manages to recover and stand, but not without sustaining injury. He healed quickly, but he was taken aback by the force of the throw. "He… This cannot be!"

"Arcturus…" Alucard mumbled to himself, his eyes wide open. "Don't you dare tell me…"

"You killed them all…" Arcturus spoke, beginning to cry. His back curved and he walked like a zombie with his legs. Instead of tears, blood began to pour from his eyes as they turn from purple to vermilion in color. "You killed them all…"

"Dyrroth… we need to go," Leomord suggested, beginning to panic. Out of the corner of his eye, Arcturus demanifested and quickly reappeared right in front of the whole group, grabbing Dyrroth by the neck. He began to cry out with a warped voice.

"**They cry for vengeance… VENGEANCE!"**

"Dyrroth!" Selena yelled out. She quickly transformed into her Abyssal form, but Arcturus quickly throws Dyrroth towards her direction, causing the both of them to get launched towards a mixer truck. The other Abyssal demons intervened, with Terizla raising his hammer to crush Arcturus, but the latter simply demanifests and appears above the executioner, wielding a greatsword of pure energy. He manages to strike Terizla's armor, causing it to dent. Terizla crumbles and falls on his back, the force of the slash sweeping him off.

Arcturus demanifests the greatsword as pure energy begins to get channeled to his hands and feet, setting them ablaze with red-hot fire. **"Vengeance… they long for blood… I will give it to them… I WILL GIVE THEM BLOOD!"**

"We need to support Arcturus!" Alpha began. "Saber, you need to bring back SAAI!"

"SAAI is perfectly fine, but Arcturus cannot hear him!" Saber responds, throwing more swords at a herd of Stalkers. "I cannot believe it… Arcturus should have died…"

"Except he didn't!" Rafaela butted right in. "If we don't stop him, we are bound to cause more damage than preventing it! There's no time to think about how the Twilight Orb chose its host, but we need to stop it all right now!"

"As if you can even stop it!" Estes retorts. "That person you're looking at right now, that is not Arcturus. That is not him talking."

Pharsa bursts down a group of Spitfires from the air, Verri flying back to her shoulder. "My liege, if Verri's insight proves true, then the Twilight Orb has momentarily taken control over Arcturus' body. He could hear dozens of voices piercing through his mind, forcing the body to act this tremendously…"

"Then how can we stop it?" Estes asked, forming a stasis ward around them before charging in. "How can we stop it?"

Pharsa sighs in worry. Without her eyes, her expression was clear. "We must drive away the Abyssal Demons. Only then can we stop the rampage. If we don't, Arcturus can be rendered null. For us, that will prove to be difficult, but I can sense that Luo Yi is about to escort Dyrroth and the others back to 53. Nevertheless, we must drive away all of the demons!"

"Alpha, you heard Pharsa! Our extraction is to arrive soon, we will have to drive away all the other demons out of the city!"

The cyborg looked back at the Elf. "But Estes-"

Another humongous explosion rang the ears of everyone in the vicinity as the Twilight Orb's energy overloaded, releasing chaotic amounts of energy and radiation. The blast gales swept off the concrete dust from the debris and caused the street poles to bend and shake erratically. Suddenly, Arcturus leapt out from the epicenter, seemingly dodging Hanekage with swift agility.

"Damn, he is too fast!" Hanzo cursed under his breath. He ejects a wave of scarlet fluid around him, seeking to shield himself from Arcturus. "Maybe-"

Before he could move, Arcturus charged through the blood aura and yanked Hanzo by the shoulder. His feet grind through the asphalt and by stopping his momentum, chucks Hanzo to the other end of the avenue, Hanekage on tow. Arcturus' breathing labored as his back hunched. His coat was torn and scarred, and his hands were bleeding. The sarcoma began to sear through his nerves, and every movement was painful.

"**More… More death… More vengeance…"**

He removed his hand from his eyes, and opened them fully. Everyone could see the yellow and purple swirling around his cornea and irises, constantly alternating flows and energies. Arcturus beheld pure rage in his face as his newly-gained power became even more unstable. He stared straight at Dyrroth with murderous intent.

"Bastard won't get away with this!" Dyrroth snarled before stampeding straight towards Arcturus. The latter doesn't move, but a cerulean projection ejects from his body and slams Dyrroth back. Before the projection faded, Chou caught the silhouette of a leg, as if it kicked the Prince of the Abyss. His eyes widened.

"NO."

"What?" Ruby asked. "What did you see? How did-"

Chou could only point forward in awe. More and more different colored projections began to emanate from Arcturus, attacking and clearing away most of the Abyssal demons harassing the other heroes. Zhao saw the silhouettes of Balmond, Harith, and Zhask driving the demons away, and he saw the projections of his own friends as Arcturus slowly walked towards Dyrroth.

"The Twilight Orb… IT POSSESSED THE SOULS OF-"

"The heroes and villains of Dimension 53!" Freya continues, growing nervous. "I cannot understand it… how…"

"There's no more time for speculation, this is our opening!" Vale interrupts, channeling more of his wind energy and throwing gales and storms at the demons. Some of the Stalkers and Wretches began to flee from the scene, more specifically, from Arcturus. "But we cannot stop Arcturus. We need to stop him!"

"He's gone insane, there's no stopping him now," Kaja responds, roasting a Hellhound with his electrified whip. "Force Dyrroth and the others off!"

Meanwhile, Arcturus suddenly charged straight towards Khufra and began landing white-hot punches and kicks at the tyrant. Khufra immediately curls up into a ball, wrapping his bandages around his body. Arcturus reels back from the bouncing ball and summons a rod of dark energy before piercing it towards Khufra, forcing the state to end. Khufra leaps back out, his arms slowly regenerating.

"Grrrhhh… we must fall back!"

As soon as he said it, Arcturus summoned a pair of high-caliber pistols and pulled the triggers, foddering Khufra with perfect accuracy. A silhouette of Clint ejected from his body and shot his rifle towards Selena, who sought to stop Arcturus' onslaught. The latter keeps walking slowly, his eyes beginning to turn yellow-orange in color. The pain from his cancer grew sharper, but that in turn fueled his need to make the heroes of the Dark Abyss suffer.

Leomord raced to support Khufra, but Minotaur intercepts, blocking his way. Barbiel slides underneath Minotaur's legs and continues galloping, rendering the blockade ineffective. Arcturus catches Leomord at the corner of his eye and begins redirecting his fire towards the knight.

"**Come on… give it a try, I DARE YOU!"**

Barbiel could only tuck as the horse tanked the shots, dozens of bullets piercing through the skin. Arcturus growls in rage as two humps began growing from his shoulders. He screams in pain as extra bone from his body protrudes from his shoulderblades like crab legs. Out of nowhere, bits and pieces of scrap metal and concrete merge with the bony appendages like armor. It took long before Saber to realize that Arcturus was summoning mounted sentry turrets just so he could concentrate more firepower.

"Arcturus, stop!" The cyborg began. "You're killing yourself!"

Arcturus paid no attention as Leomord was left a sitting duck with the other heroes just trying to pre-occupy the other Abyssal heroes. Dyrroth remains wheezing yards behind Leomord, trying to regain his footing. Leomord punches the ground with his fist in frustration. "THAMUZ!"

In response, the fire demon bursts from the ground, his scythes melting steel. Arcturus looked up and crouched, covering himself with his arms. Thamuz lands on top of Arcturus… and floats a few feet above him. He tries to pummel through the force field, but it was no use. The bony appendages for Arcturus shrink back and disappears. He looks up at Thamuz, his fiery eyes turning blue on the irises. Suddenly, he channels a maelstrom of ice within his hands, the unstable energy causing his vicinity to vibrate. Finally, he dismantles the invisible field.

Lolita projects a Noumenon shield with her hammer to protect Harley. "TAKE COVER!"

Arcturus unleashes an immense haze of ice, spreading around in a semicircular fashion, pushing Thamuz away and causing the ember spirit inside the demon to slowly ebb. The fire demon roars in frustration as he tries to push off the gales, but the mounted turrets on Arcturus began firing a barrage of icicles and beams straight towards Thamuz, managing to break off bits and pieces of the latter's charred armor. Gusion immediately dashes in and throws his daggers, causing chunks of Thamuz' physical body to shatter. However, before Gusion could even blink out, the chunks began to coalesce and reform back to Thamuz, proving the theory that the Abyssal heroes were still a pain in the neck.

"Cocky asshat needs to stop doing what he's doing," the assassin mumbles, grinding his teeth. "He's killing himself!"

Faramis and Terizla converge from the sides, no longer paying attention to the heroes attacking them. Arcturus immediately jumps backwards to prevent the collision whilst adjusting his aim, shooting at the two new enemies on his vision. The concrete and steel on his appendages begin dislodging before reforming on his boots, and the sound of a turbine could be heard. As the transformation was complete, Arcturus had powered rocket boots below his shoes.

"**You cannot even understand its power… I will show you!"**

Arcturus angles as if he was lying on his back and aims his feet towards Khufra, who was leaping towards him. Huge jets of yellow flame bursts forth from the boots, causing Khufra' bandages burn and his skin to char. The ensuing gales push the tyrant back to the ground as Arcturus being hovering out and backing away, still returning fire with his pistols. Around more than twenty apparitions have now ejected from his body as a yellow-purple aura begins to pulse within Arcturus, causing gravitational anomalies around him.

"We don't have much time, he's about to cause another surge!" Eudora warns Alucard, who was still finishing off a swarm of Ravagers. "You need to take him down!"

"I won't risk that, not ever!" The hunter retorts, launching a devastating red fission wave at the remaining demons. He chucks his greatsword, the blade lodging onto Terizla's armor. "New plan! Keep Arcturus in check, we need to join him now!"

"_Arc, please, listen to me! Your sarcoma is growing in absurd amounts, this is bullshit!" _SAAI screamed out onto Arcturus, but he doesn't hear it at all. _"Your heart is not even beating anymore! You can only last two more minutes!"_

Freya perched on a rooftop, noticing new airborne object from the sky. She squints her eyes and recognizes them as fighter jets. "The military has arrived, we can't drag them into this!"

"A-10 Warthogs from the U.S.?!" Alpha exclaimed. "Shit, they can't go here, they're gonna-"

Suddenly, two of the ten fighter jets launched a barrage of SABOT rounds from their guns, peppering the whole avenue with large bullets. Most manage to take cover within certain structures, while others just hid behind their weapons, blocking the shots. Arcturus simply swerved away from the path of the bullets and shielded himself from stray debris, a transparent force field around him. However, that was enough time for a Wretch to swat him out of the sky, breaking the spherical shield and causing Arcturus to roll around like a ragdoll.

"Arcturus, stay behind us!" Tigreal commands, protecting him from Leomord's charge. The dark knight raises his sword, calling Barbiel from the back to stampeded on Arcturus. The latter quickly dissipates and phases from behind the stallion, dodging the thundering hooves. One by one, the holographic projections slowly died out mid-battle and returned back to Arcturus' body. Tigreal did veer out of the way, but that opened up the opportunity for Leomord to strike Arcturus, snagging him with his sword by the shoulder. The A-10 Warthogs from the sky get harassed by a swarm of Hellbats and Spitfires, with more new, unidentified demons causing three of them to crash down.

"I have got you now! This has to cease!" Leomord growls, thrusting his sword outward and launching Arcturus back to the air. The knight then leaps out of Barbiel to follow it up with another slash, but Arcturus manages to clutch Oath Keeper by the tip, his palms bleeding from the edges.

Silvanna charges from the back in order to knock away Leomord, but Dyrroth, seemingly recovered, lashes out at his own sister like a feral cat, stopping the intervention. Leomord winces from the struggle Arcturus was putting up, using both of his hands to push through and seek to impale the latter with his own sword.

"The Twilight Orb chose its host poorly… Your body will be made null by its chaotic power. No one can control it!" Leomord successfully punctures Arcturus' stomach, the sword slowly digging deeper. Arcturus looks up at the knight, his eyes closed. Slowly, he opens his eyelids, and his cornea was completely purple, his irises held pure gold. Behind him, three more pairs of bony appendages jut out from his spine and ribs, growing in length similar to the ones on his shoulderblades. Growths of patches of skin began to appear from the appendages, and feathers began to appear, starting from the tips of the bone.

"**Poorly? No… YOU… YOU NEED TO WALK AWAY FROM THIS… NOW!"**

Suddenly, a devastating shift of gravity began to appear, and the flying demons quickly drop down to the ground, snarling and growling at the abrupt change of gravity. Meanwhile, Arcturus began to float as he slowly pushed back Oath Keeper, as if his own gravity was decreasing.

Leomord was shocked as he could barely kneel from the force of gravity. What was even scarier was the fact that Alucard, Estes, Argus, and even the other heroes were subject to the gravity.

"_Arcturus, stop it! Your brain activity is shredding your nervous system! YOU BARELY HAVE A MINUTE LEFT, GODDAMNIT!"_

The feathery growths from Arcturus' eight appendages rapidly complete, and the four pairs of white wings unfurled and extended outward in full length. Arcturus screams in rage, the Twilight Orb's energy crushing his body's capabilities. A huge wave of temporal disruption was emanated from his body, completely stopping time around him. The whole atmosphere became grey, and all of the colors became washed out in the eyes of all of the combatants.

"What in hell…" Valir mumbled. He tries to get up, but he could not move at all. The mage looked around and noticed that everyone could only move their eyes and nothing else. Arcturus was in the center of the field, his hands channeling yellow and purple energy. He twirls around with his body, the wings on his back launching feathers at the Abyssal heroes. Valir had to squint hard to realize that the feathers were no longer feathers, but rather, obsidian knives. "MOTHER OF-"

Arcturus stomps down on the ground, ceasing the temporal shutdown as the knives lodge into all of the Abyssal heroes. The blades begin to thrust farther, seemingly pushing Dyrroth and the others back away into the other end of the warzone.

"He's going to die, his body is going to overwork!" Odette shouts. She tries walking towards him, but Lancelot grabs her arm

"Odette, no… we can't." The knight points at Arcturus, and the mage knew what he was doing. Arcturus controlled the obsidian blades lodged onto the Abyssal heroes bringing them forth to the center of an intersection. Their bodies collided together as they dropped to the ground, apparently beat. The other heroes stood in awe as Arcturus hovered down to the ground, walking towards them slowly. His hands shook as the unstable chaos energy was begging for release.

"**This… This is what is possible… You now know…"**

Without warning, a beam of yellow light juts from the sky to the asphalt, seemingly blocking Arcturus' path. A familiar symbol sears into the ground, forming the Yin Yang logo.

"**But this… this is not over."**

Within the flash of light, a purple-haired sorcerer stood upright, wearing silky robes and holding a puffy quill. Her clothes flowed with the gentle wind that passed by. Luo Yi remained emotionless, her mouth concealed by her translucent mask. Arcturus looked deep within her eyes and saw what was to come.

"Luo Yi, get us out of here, now!" Hanzo orders. "We have lost this fight."

The sorcerer does not respond verbally. She still locked eyes with Arcturus, and could only feel the looming dread from an uncertain future. Dyrroth noticed the interaction, but could only sigh.

"Are you blind? We need to go, goddamnit!" The Prince scolded.

"_The Writer… one day, we will meet again, but not for war."_

She waved her quill in the air as she initiated a recall back to Dimension 53, bringing the other Abyssal heroes alongside her. Arcturus looked up at the sky, watching a pulsing light fade to the heavens. The channeled energy from his hands died out into thin air, and the plumes on his wings shed away before getting blown to the wind as ash. His bony appendages retracted into his back, concealing them again.

"_Arcturus…"_

Arcturus could hear Lunox' voice again before a huge wave of numbing pain hits his body, causing him to collapse to his knees. "I… I…"

"_I'm sorry… so sorry…"_

He crumples down face-first to the ground. Arcturus could no longer feel his own body. He could not hear SAAI's screams. He could not hear the calls of the other heroes rushing to heal him. He could not even process what just occurred. All he felt was death ready to escort him to the afterlife. The voices around him became resounding echoes as his eyes could only see blurred spots of red, blue, and yellow.

"_I doomed you into torment, and I cannot take it all back anymore."_

But what has transpired became a clear warning to everybody. There was, and will be, divine reckoning.

And soon will it come, and it can never be stopped.


End file.
